


The Next Great Adventure

by EmLights



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: BAMF Hatake Kakashi, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Harry Potter Has a Sibling, Just Add Ninjas, Kid Harry Potter, M/M, Naruto is Just Naruto, Parent Hatake Kakashi, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke Has Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24039529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmLights/pseuds/EmLights
Summary: The final battle has ended, and Harry Potter, exhausted and dying, waits patiently to succumb to his injuries so he can finally see his friends and family again.With his notorious luck of getting thrown into difficult situations, Harry instead finds himself shrunk and lost in a new world via the Fates, who may or may not have ulterior motives for sending him on this "Next Great Adventure."Welcome, Harry, to the world of Ninja!
Comments: 113
Kudos: 694
Collections: Naruto Crossovers, Time Travel and World Travel





	1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 1: The Beginning

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Silence.

Most people believe your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. Your memories, the places you've been, the people you've loved, and the things you've treasured, all on display in your mind as you take your last few breaths. People say you can tell whether you lived an eventful life or a wasted one in those last moments.

Harry was no exception.

He lay crumpled on the ground in the only place he'd ever called home. Sadly, the Hogwarts he knew and loved was no longer standing. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, now only a mountain of stone, had been destroyed in the final battle between Light and Dark.

He would miss Hogwarts. As he thought of the years he'd spent there and the memories created, Harry regretted he wouldn't be able to finish his seventh and final year. It was Hermione's hope for the three of them to go back to school after all the fighting was over and graduate together. Unfortunately, with Hermione and Ron both six feet under and Harry not far behind, this idea would now just be a nice optimistic dream.

Harry guessed he lived an okay life though. In his nineteen years, he gained great friends, learned about magic, and made some wonderful memories. Except for the last two years, which he did not want to think about just now. In all honesty, he wished he could erase those horrible memories so even in death he wouldn't remember them.

The war had been brutal.

After Dumbledore's untimely death, Harry begrudgingly became the leader of the Light. He never understood why people pushed for him to lead. He was young and inexperienced, but people clung to him and his name and in the end there wasn't much choice in the matter. He led them through many fights and conflicts and took each death as his own failure. He lost many allies and friends through the war and each weighed heavily on his heart.

 _It's good I'm dying now_ , he thought, strangely cheerful. _There isn't anything left in this world to live for. Everyone I love is waiting for me on the other side._

He looked around while straining his eyes though dirty glasses. He saw a single goal post left standing very close to where he resided.

_I must be on the Quidditch pitch then._

He was lying in the place where only a few years before he had proudly held the Quidditch cup in his hands, celebrating his final win as Quidditch Captain. The memory of the win was fleeting but seeing his friends happy and cheering brought a painful smile to his face.

_Ron, Hermione, Ginny, everyone… I'll be seeing all of you soon._

As he continued to look around, he glanced at all the bodies surrounding him. Most were unrecognizable; in the collection of rubble, bodies, and blood, Harry couldn't distinguish between his allies and the death eaters.

_A war fought over blood…. How ironic that now their pure blood is mixed in with all the mudbloods and blood traitors too._

He spotted his newly acquired wand, a black elm taken from a fallen death eater a few months back, splintered a few inches from his fingers. The wand had accepted him well enough but was nothing like his own holly and phoenix feather wand. How he missed his old wand! Lord Voldemort had gleefully snapped it after one of the many encounters the two had over the years.

Harry finally spotted a corpse he did recognize. His eyes welled with tears as he spotted the greasy hair and hooked nose of his former potions master, whose body oozed from deep lacerations. It appeared the death eaters had taken great pleasure in torturing their notorious traitor. From the looks of the many broken bodies around him, Professor Snape didn't fall without taking a few death eaters with him.

 _Hope the bastard got them good_ , Harry thought proudly. _Once this is all over and I see him again, I'm going to force him and my dad to make up. Too much has happened for them to continue their schoolyard rivalry. I'm sure Mom will help too._

Harry closed his eyes, picturing his family and friends all together again. Everyone was happy and laughing with no thoughts of war or death. The scene brought a brief sense of peace.

 _I do regret not being able to settle down and have kids though,_ Harry thought bitterly. _I think I would have been a pretty good dad._

Having grown up in a house devoid of love and kindness, he was sure his children would have grown up in a loving and happy home.

 _It would've been nice to have a house filled with lots of kids_ , he thought. _Just like the Weasley's. They were always happy._ He forced himself not to think about what happened to his favorite redheaded family once the war started.

Harry's breathing became difficult and the wetness building beneath him expanded. Dying was painful, and his entire body ached. Bleeding out, Harry found, was not the easiest way to die. Especially out here on the cold, hard ground all alone.

He pondered what the headlines would say about his current predicament. Rita Skeeter would have a field day for sure. He could see it now - "Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the Boy-Who-Lived, destroys the beloved Wizarding Landmark Hogwarts (and defeats the Dark Lord in the process)". He started chuckling but choked on the liquid in his lungs and coughed.

He _had_ done it though. The scorched parts of what were left of Voldemort's body were scattered about twenty feet away from where Harry himself had fallen. He had finally killed the bastard who made his life hell. He avenged all of the people this monster had destroyed. But he was years too late to save anyone.

He thought about all the people he had lost; his best friends, Ron and Hermione, the whole Weasley family, Neville, Luna, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and countless others who had followed him until they met their untimely deaths.

A single tear fell, though he couldn't feel it through the ever-increasing coldness of his body.

Harry's raspy voice spoke softly into the eerie silence. "I'm sorry, everyone. It took me way too long to kill him. I hope you can forgive me."

His ragged and painful breathing slowed. He closed his eyes, waiting for Death to arrive and finally take him to his family and friends who were waiting for him on the other side.

_Here I come._

Harry welcomed the approaching darkness.

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Harry saw a blinding light, floating serenely above him.

 _This must be the end_ , he thought, watching the light slowly approach him. He closed his eyes and basked in the sudden warmth. His worn and aching body suddenly felt rejuvenated, and he no longer felt the cold hard ground beneath him. He felt levitated in a bight ray of sunshine.

Strangely enough, Harry's eyes snapped open to find he was indeed suspended in the air. He panicked, flailing his body around, failing to find his balance without the ground for support.

"Calm down, my child. Everything is as it should be." He froze as a disembodied voice projected through the white abyss surrounding him.

Three indistinguishable forms appeared before him with nothing but a faint outline to show their figures.

 _I must still be dying if my hallucinations are this unreal_ , Harry thought. He blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the imaginary people from his vision.

"Harry Potter." He looked up at the middle figure who'd spoken.

"You have led a difficult life, and this fault resides with us, The Fates, for sending the prophecy between you and Tom Riddle to our chosen seer. We placed you in the position as the world's savior and took away your chance at a normal life. We now wish to redeem ourselves and gift you with, as your Headmaster would say, your 'next great adventure.'"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously. He figured that, even though this was just a dying hallucination, he might as well play along with his delusions. He was indeed enjoying the experience of warmth in this hallucination, so he was fine with it lasting a bit longer.

"As you are on the brink of death, it is easy for us to send your body and soul to a different dimension. Think of it as a second chance to live the life you were deprived of."

"How can you send me to a different dimension? Or rather, what is a different dimension?" In the lull of the warmth, the talk of dimensions was still strange, and he was curious how his subconscious could have come up with it. It was a bit far-fetched for his imagination.

He heard chuckling amongst the shadows. "We are The Fates. There are many things we can do that you mere humans cannot even begin to fathom. And to answer your other question, dimensions are different worlds completely separate from one another."

The center figure leaned toward Harry slowly. "But there is no time for us to explain everything to you just yet. All you need to know is that for your selfless and courageous acts, and for the defeat of a terrible dark lord, you have been blessed by The Fates. And furthermore, an old wizard has requested that you carry on his bloodline in your new life."

"Erm, I'm not quite sure I'm following…." Harry was interrupted by faint laughter echoing from the three dark shapes.

"We are running out of time, and I am not yet finished," the center figure continued. "When you arrive at your new home, you most likely will not be able to understand the language. It takes time for the information you need to be assimilated by your mind, so be patient, as you will need the necessary information to blend in." The heat around Harry continued to increase, and his body shifted uncomfortably.

"Because of the influx of information, you may develop some temporary blank spots in the memories of your past life, but don't be alarmed. This is just so the emotions from your past memories will not consume your conscience as you are assimilating to this new life. You have the choice, however, to leave your memories behind if you wish."

"Hang on, I don't want to lose any memories!" Even though this was a hallucination created by his slowly dying mind, he couldn't help but feel his heart aching at the thought of losing the memories of his loved ones.

"Calm down, child. You will only have blank spots temporarily. If you wish to keep your memories, then they will stay with you. We do not want you to live in the past though. This gift of a new life has been bestowed on you; do not disregard this chance by staying in the past and not living life to its fullest."

Harry just stared unblinkingly at the middle shadow. It was simply too bizarre, too unreal for him to comprehend.

"You should start believing this Harry James Potter, because I assure you this is all real. Now, as you are to become an heir to this wizard _,_ you will see some changes in your magic. Also, the magic in this dimension is very different from what you are used to. You will see once you get there."

"Secondly, there will be another heir coming soon after you. Your magical sibling, if you will. She died earlier on in this war, so it will take us longer to send her to you."

 _"A sibling?"_ Harry echoed in frustration, all thoughts of hallucinations gone from his mind. "None of this makes any sense! Why can't you explain yourselves?" Harry did not like dealing with these so-called Fates. Instead of answering his questions, they were only adding to his confusion.

"We believe in learning through experience," one of the figures stated smugly. "But we will give you just a little help before you go." Without further warning, the figure rushed toward Harry with frightening speed and thrust a clouded hand straight through Harry's skull.

Too stunned to move, there was a burst of pain and heat, and Harry was instantly accosted by foreign symbols and sounds spinning rapidly through his mind.

"There will also be a small side effect from travelling to a different dimension while you are still alive. You'll discover it soon enough. We hope you are ready."

Before Harry could blink, he was pushed firmly by something and started plummeting through an endless sea of white clouds.

Harry couldn't answer as he plunged further away from the dark figures above him; his vision was starting to fade and his consciousness with it.

Before he blacked out completely, he heard a faint echo in his ears. "Good luck, Harry James Potter."

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As soon as Harry disappeared from their view, the three figures looked at each other in silence.

"What memories did you take from him?" the figure on the left asked curiously.

"I took his most traumatic memories of the war. The ones I hope he never regains."

The three stared back at the spot Harry had disappeared from, as though they could still see him and were assessing him with a critical eye.

"Have we done the right thing?" one of them asked finally. "To tell him this is a second chance, only…."

"What we have done is for the good of this world," another stated decisively. "He will understand in time."

"That poor boy," the third said quietly, before the three fell into silence once again.

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Kakashi sat in a tree, hovering noiselessly over a campfire. The smell of alcohol encumbered his highly sensitive nose. The unsuspecting group below laughed boisterously, showing off their stolen prizes to one another. The sounds of sake glasses being clinked together echoed through the forest followed by drunken cheers.

"That's a damn great haul!" One of the men yelled happily, clapping another on the back.

"Too bad we got no women in the wagon," another added sadly and hiccupped. "Why we always unlucky and hit the wagons with all men? If we had some nice ladies here, we'd have a lot more fun tonight!" A few others nodded in agreement.

"There's that red light district in Tanigakure. We gots enough money to have fun with lots of women now! And lots o' sake!" More cheers erupted from the suggestion.

"Bakusui, you's always wanting to go to the red light district. This is why you's always broke!" The others laughed, and they all continued to drink merrily.

"Having fun over there, Goro?" One of them asked the man sitting on a log away from the group. The lookout growled and stabbed his sword into the ground, obviously cross about missing out on the drinking, and they all burst into raucous laughter again.

Kakashi sighed inaudibly as the group then started drunkenly singing.

_These people are the worst bandits I've ever seen._

A signal from his left spurred him into action. Kakashi leapt onto the closest target, the lookout a few feet from the camp, and cut his throat before the man could utter a sound.

A green blur shot through the remaining five targets, all of who could not react fast enough to defend themselves.

Kakashi scanned the clearing, making sure all of the bandits were disposed of before casually approaching his comrade.

"Gai, this is the fifth group of bandits we've come across," he muttered, kicking a sake bottle out of his path. "Genins could have handled this easily. It's been two weeks, and there haven't been any signs of foreign ninja anywhere in this forest like we thought."

Gai nodded. "Yes my esteemed rival. But we must continue our youthful pursuit! The Hokage would not have sent us to this specific location if he did not think there was trouble!"

Two weeks of scouting the forest between the border of the Land of Rivers and Konoha had left the two finding absolutely nothing that fit their mission parameters. The Hokage had given them a very vague mission to 'look for something out of the ordinary.' Kakashi had spent the last two weeks pondering what the Hokage could have meant by this but still the answer eluded him.

After they cleared the area of stolen items and hid any trace of a campsite, the two prepared to leave.

"We still have two weeks left of this mission," Gai continued. "Let us do our best and even if we find nothing, we can still valiantly rid this forest of the bandits and return the items unjustly stolen from the good merchants of Konoha!" Gai shot Kakashi a blinding smile and a thumbs up.

Kakashi ignored his teammate as he pulled out an orange book and hid his face behind the pages.

"Ah, Kakashi, always so hip and cool!" Gai said enthusiastically as they set off.

 _Why had the Hokage sent them on this fool's errand?_ Kakashi thought as he gracefully jumped from branch to branch, his face still buried in the orange book. _Does he know something they didn't?_

Regardless of the reason, Kakashi resigned himself to spending the next two weeks hunting drunken bandits and dealing with Gai's youthfulness.

Or so he thought.

End Chapter 1

Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! Instructive criticism and positive reviews are very welcome.


	2. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wakes up in an unfamiliar place.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 2: The Forest

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_[Begin Flashback]_

_"Sweetie, you can't come with me," the man stated, sliding his wand into his arm holster hastily. "This battle will be extremely dangerous and you already need a healer to take a look at that leg." He watched as she tried not to limp walking closer to the front door. "You can barely put any weight on it as it is. And you still need to replace your wand after what happened last time."_

_"Dad, I'm supposed to be out there though," she began slowly, ignoring the exasperated look her father gave her. "The Fata told me. They said it was very important."_

_Her father sighed. Having a stubborn sixteen-year-old daughter was difficult, especially one as special as his. He took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to face his daughter once more._

_"I can already tell that whatever I say to you will be futile." The blank stare he received was confirmation enough. He walked over to an old cabinet and took out an old wand, carrying it lovingly to his daughter._

_"This wand… it was your mother's. You are so much like her; I have no doubt it will work well for you. With this, you'll have your mother's protection out there if I'm not able to help. This wand is precious to me, so I am expecting you to bring it back. Please, don't do anything too reckless. You're all I have left."_

_She put her own broken wand in the holster fastened to her ankles and clasped her mother's wand gently in her palm. She then pulled her father into a warm embrace. "This is a precious gift indeed. Don't worry, I'll be back before the next issue is published."_

_"That's my girl," her father said and kissed her forehead._

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_Hours before the battle ended, she found her next, and last, opponent. Spells were fired rapidly as she danced around the death eater. Her unique dodging, though it looked more like a strange jig, helped her avoid most of the curses sent her way. She, on the other hand, caught him with an odd string of jelly legs, the tickling curse, and a confusion jinx, which caused him to send a cutting curse at his own legs instead of hers._

_Shaking off the effects of the spells, he growled angrily and began firing curses with gusto. The injury to her leg caused her to falter enough for a sectumsempra to hit her in her left forearm. She was knocked to the ground with a cry of pain, and the death eater took that moment to disarm her. She struggled to stand, her left arm hanging lifelessly against her side seeping blood. She looked around quickly to find her mother's wand laying ten feet to her left, too far for her to reach in time._

_The man laughed in her face as she knelt wand-less in front of him. "You put up a good fight little girl, but in the end, the Dark Lord's followers will always triumph."_

_Without hesitation, she quickly pulled out her own wand from her ankle and waved it towards the man. A destructive blast surged out of the broken wand and promptly blew up not only her but also her attacker. The next thing she saw was a great white light._

_"So, you must be the Fata," she said calmly into the abyss._

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_A lone man was found standing in the empty battlefield days after the battle ended. He looked out of place, dressed in a crisp black suit with a glaringly yellow bow tie and his hair carefully combed. His leather shoes were coated in mud and debris, but the man didn't seem to notice or particularly care._

_A few hours before, the man would have been seen searching the grounds with fierce determination until he found an abandoned wand. He now stood, cradling the wand tenderly in his hands, as he silently wept._

_He wept for his loving wife, whose devotion to her research led him to raising their daughter on his own. He wept for his gifted and caring daughter who deserved a life much greater and longer than the one she was given. He also wept of the realization he would now have to brace this world without the two that gave him his reason to live._

_There was no body to be found, nothing left to properly bury. He cursed his inability to protect his only living kin from the terrors of the world and wished he had just locked her up until this whole bloody war was over._

_But she would never have allowed it. Her inherited stubbornness and belief in what is right would have helped her find a way around that as well._

_He checked his watch before apparating back to his home. He slowly made his way to an artfully made tombstone and a small box ready to be buried. He opened up the wooden box and peered longingly at the contents. He decided to bury her most precious possessions, hoping they would carry on her spirit to the next life._

_Resting right on top of an old butterbeer necklace and some bright red radish earrings was a picture of his daughter. She was smiling brightly at the camera and waving enthusiastically. He gazed at the photograph for what seemed like an eternity, burning that particular image into his mind. He took a deep breath and then laid his wife's wand down into the box as well._

_"Protect her in the next life as I have failed in this one."_

_Three figures then apparated into the clearing. Harry, Neville, and Tonks walked slowly over to the newly made tombstone and faltered a few steps away._

_"Mr. Lovegood… I'm, I'm sorry about Luna." Harry wrung his hands uncomfortably as Mr. Lovegood turned around to greet them with a somber nod._

_"Life is unpredictable," he replied, suddenly. "Guilt and blame only hinders us while it gives fuel to our enemies. We all know the real culprit here and child, it is not you."_

_With tears searing down his cheeks, Neville meekly walked over and placed a sealed envelope into the wooden box. His budding affection for the eccentric Ravenclaw would now be buried among her precious belongings._

_Mr. Lovegood lowered the box into the small pit, and Harry and Neville helped with the burial._

_"Harry, we have to hurry, it's risky you just being here," Tonks said quickly with an apologetic glance at the grieving father._

_The two boys said their silent good-byes to their friend and bade Mr. Lovegood farewell before the three hastily apparated away._

_Xenophilius stayed glued in front of the tombstone for a long time after, as he prayed that his daughter find love and happiness in her next adventure._

_[End flashback]_

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Harry woke with a jolt. He lifted his head off the ground slowly, trying to ignore the pounding in his ears. His body protested the movement, and he could feel painful bruises where he had apparently fallen. He looked up and stared incredulously at the canopy of leaves overhead. Trees the size of skyscrapers filled the entire area with roots, resembling bodies of a full-grown basilisk, protruding out of the ground. Birds fluttered by, diving in and out of the tree branches, and the sounds of large animals rustled through the forest.

The forest was massive and unfamiliar, and he had a strong inkling he was not in England any longer.

This new and foreign terrain was intimidating, especially because he had no idea where he was or, more importantly, how to get somewhere safe.

"Stupid Fates trying to meddle in my life again," he grumbled under his breath as he remembered the hazy conversation he had right before waking up. The whistling in the wind sounded almost like chuckling, and he had a strong desire to curse them even more.

Harry then paused.

Coming to the realization that this might actually be real and not just some hallucination his mind made up, his body suddenly froze in panic.

 _After I died, I was supposed to see my family and friends!_ he thought with despair.

During the war, his only consolation was that when he died, he would finally see his loved ones again. Hearing Ron and Hermione bicker over inconsequential things would be music to his ears right about now. The forest sounds mocked him as he thought of his two best friends.

Anger flooded his senses. He had made plans for the afterlife! And now the fates had messed it all up. He would've finally been able to hug his parents and tell them how much he loved them; after missing their presence his entire life, all he wanted was to make up that time and get to know them first hand.

Tears started to trickle down his face.

He also would've been able to talk to Severus again, tell him how grateful he was for everything the Potions Master did for the cause and especially for him. He'd also finally get him to stop being stubborn and reconcile with his father.

There were so many people, countless numbers who followed him in the war, who had died because they believed in him. And he never was able to thank them or tell them how sorry he was for leading them to their deaths. His guilt welled up, as it had many times over the last couple of years, but he squashed it down fervently.

Harry took a deep breath and wiped the tears from his cheeks. For now he needed to focus on his present situation. He would mourn the loss of what could have been after he figured out where the hell he'd fallen.

He tried to pick himself up slowly but found himself tripping on his own clothing. He faltered, wondering how that was possible. When he looked down at the article in question, he saw his black cloak trailing far beyond where his body ended.

"What the..." He held his hands to his face now noticing how very small they looked in comparison to what he remembered. Frantically, Harry patted at his face, his fingers searching for anything out of place, but was unable to determine anything wrong except smaller features.

"How is this possible?"

His eyes glazed over as he tried to recall his last memory.

One single sentence echoed in his mind as if spoken again right in front of him: _"There will also be a small side-effect from travelling to a different dimension while still alive. You'll find it out soon enough."_

"A side-effect of shrinking?" Harry fumed. _No one_ would take him seriously if his body was the size of a little kid. He then noticed that he no longer had his glasses on. He blinked slowly, glancing at his surroundings, taking in all the crystal clear details and vivid green colors of the leaves.

_Well I guess one good thing about this is it seems I will no longer need my glasses._

He tried his best to fix the cloak to fit his new small form. He tied the ends rather hastily around his waist, ending with something that looked more like a toga than a cloak. It was the best he could do with the situation at hand. So after looking around at the trees around him, Harry grimly set out, not fully aware of what it was he was looking for and dearly wishing for some pants.

_If I meet anyone, they are going to laugh their heads off when they see me wrapped up in a toga. How humiliating..._

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Harry fought his weariness as he trudged through the endless forest where he had awoken. The forest reminded him of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts with the towering trees and odd animal noises in the background. He shuddered as he thought about his experiences there, with one very detailed memory of giant flesh-eating Acromantulas chasing him and Ron through the forest.

_If I come across an army of Acromantula again, I don't know if I would be able to handle that._

He sighed at the difficult situation he had been placed in. Yet again, he is forced into an unknown situation with no clue as to what he's supposed to do. Except this time he didn't have a Ron and Hermione by his side. He felt a sharp pain in his chest as he thought of his best friends.

_Come on, Harry, focus!_

He checked his magical core, trying to see if it had been affected by the transportation to… wherever he was. It felt fine, just a little weak, and he gave a sigh of relief.

"I might have enough magic for my animagus form…." He stopped walking for a moment to carefully consider the risks. He didn't want there to be complications with his animagus form and his newly shortened body.

His mind drifted to the lessons Remus had taught him about animagi. The animal was affected by the person's height, weight, age, and many other factors. Since he didn't know any of those answers for his new body, his animagus form could possibly be dangerous for him to attempt.

So instead, he chose a random direction and started walking again, hoping to find something soon.

During the war, they frequently had to camp in forests so he knew to look for a shelter of some kind, preferably an unoccupied cave.

 _Let's hope I'll get lucky and find a place quickly,_ he thought. Though he never seemed to be very lucky.

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After wandering over half a day with no indication of being closer to finding his way out of the forest or discovering any type of shelter at all, Harry sat down leaning his small frame against a large tree root.

His body, aching and sore, couldn't take much more of this random roaming through the forest, especially with no destination in sight. His throat was parched and his stomach growled angrily at him. The only solace in this situation was that he had not encountered any strange beasts so far in the forest.

He shook his head with resolve. He'd have to risk his animagus form. His form would enhance his visual and olfactory senses so he'd have a much higher chance of finding clues of which direction to travel. Risking a few complications was worth it if the alternative was staying lost in this immense forest and becoming food for a hungry animal.

He shifted and immediately felt comforted by the familiar form. He had named his form 'Moony' for his old friend Remus who helped him achieve the form shortly before he died. He could feel the slight differences in this form and his old one. He glanced down to study his smaller paws.

_At least I'll be able to hide easier as a younger wolf._

His animagus form had strong instincts and at the beginning fought Harry for dominance. He and Moony had come to a compromise though, and Harry, while he stayed in complete control of the form, was heavily influenced by the natural instincts and thoughts from the wolf.

After he shifted, Harry was accosted with a multitude of unfamiliar scents.

 _Where the hell am I_? he wondered, trying to sift through the new scents. Moony wanted to go investigate all the new and interesting smells, but Harry needed to find someone to help him get out of this forest. Toward the east, his nose detected a waft of cooked meat, cloth, and smoke.

There was a human nearby.

He treaded softly toward what he now knew was a campsite. He sniffed again and noticed two distinct human scents. He crept up slowly, trying to get close enough to tell whether these humans were friendly or not, without being seen. His instincts from the war automatically made him hesitate to approach.

 _This isn't a war anymore, Harry_ , he tried to convince himself. It was a hard concept for him to fathom.

As he wavered a few yards from the campsite, a flash of movement caught his attention in the trees, and he saw a glint of metal. He lowered himself, unconsciously growling at the unwelcome danger.

"It's only a wolf here, no missing nin for us to battle for now my rival!" The owner of the voice jumped down from the tree and gave Harry a grin. He was wearing a green jumpsuit and had thick, black eyebrows the size of large caterpillars. "Sorry little wolf, no food for you over here."

The other human then appeared from behind a tree. His gravity-defying white hair looked normal compared to the unusual clothing they were both wearing. This second one even had a facemask.

 _What kind of a place has people who dress like this?_ Harry wondered, trying to picture somewhere that would deem outlandish clothing like this to be acceptable.

He recognized a few of the sounds the humans were making from the information the fates had given him before this impossible journey, but Harry couldn't understand what the words meant. It only confirmed Harry's suspicion that he was very, very far from home.

He tried to focus on the sounds, but it was still too early for any of the given knowledge to be helpful in this situation.

The white haired human lazily strode over to where Harry was still cowering defensively. "He's just a baby," he said, leaning towards Harry to get a better look. "Looks pretty hungry to me as well."

Harry bared his teeth, trying to decide whether these two were a threat to him or not. The masked human laughed and, in the blink of an eye, swept Harry up into his arms. Harry squirmed and tried to bite the human who dared to pick him up.

"Don't worry little wolf, I have food for you. You need it."

"Oh! I had forgotten! You have a soft spot for wolves, don't you?" the green one stated cheerfully to the one in the mask.

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Harry stared at the piece of meat placed in front of him. Both of the humans left him alone other than small glances they shot his way every now and again. He sniffed the meat, and the delicious scent made the decision for him. He took a small bite with as much self-control as he could manage.

It was rabbit, but the flavoring was a little different compared to the rabbits he'd eaten in the past. Not wanting to think any more confusing questions when he had no one to answer them, Harry focused his attention to the meat and ate greedily.

After finishing the meal the humans had provided, Harry took the time to study them sitting around the fire. The white-haired man was staring lazily back. Harry believed his companion had called him Rival, and the other he had heard referred to as Gai.

Suddenly, and without being quite sure what had just happened, Harry found himself held down with a blade at his throat.

"I know you aren't a real wolf, so who are you, and how are you able to hold that form so convincingly?" the white-haired man said with a pleasant tone, but his body language screamed a threat. Harry shuddered at cool metal pressed against his skin and slowly released his animagus form.

"A child? How is a child able to do that? By his youthfulness, I would guess he isn't any older than four," Gai stated, his caterpillar-like eyebrows disappearing beneath his bowl cut fringe.

Harry, back in his tied-back, overly large black cloak, tried to explain that he was lost, but the only words coming out were in English. It was clear by the expressions on the two men's faces that they didn't understand any of it.

 _How… how did he know I wasn't a wolf?_ Harry wondered, gazing at the sharp weapon fearfully. _And how am I supposed to explain my situation when I can't even explain myself!_

He swallowed hard, anxiously wondering if the Fates had given him a 'second chance' only to have him killed within hours of his reawakening.

Harry had never thought much of forests, anyway.

End Chapter 2

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Poor Luna! And now Harry has officially met Kakashi and Gai.

Reviews are always welcome; I love hearing what you guys think!


	3. The Hidden Leaf Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has an unfortunate encounter with Leaf Nin. Kakashi and Gai decide what to do with the child they found.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 3: The Hidden Leaf Village

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Gai glanced at Kakashi with surprise.

"You are indeed worthy to be my rival, Kakashi. How is it you knew he was human?"

"His scent," Kakashi replied easily. No further explanation was given.

"The kid's chakra levels are relatively high, but that does not explain how he is able to achieve such a youthful transformation. Maybe it's some type of bloodline limit?" Kakashi just hummed, still gazing at the boy with one expressionless eye, as Gai unrelentingly rambled off different explanations of the child's strange wolf form and what might be the cause of it.

Kakashi still held the kunai against the boy's neck, but he noted that from his expression, the boy acted like he'd never seen a kunai before.

"He also looks to be lost," Gai stated thoughtfully. "Despite his youth, he is only skin and bones! Looks like he hasn't had a bite to eat in days. I wish to feed him more so his youthfulness can grow! My rival, I think we should take him with us!"

"Do you think," Kakashi stated slowly, "that this boy could possibly be what the Hokage sent us out here for?"

"Ah, that is possible! He does fit the abnormal guideline set for our mission!" Kakashi nodded and pulled his kunai away, though still holding it ready in his hand.

"It's decided then. We'll take the child with us to the Hokage. If we are wrong, the Hokage can figure out what to do with him."

"Yes! My thoughts exactly!"

"You make one wrong move," Kakashi said, leaning right into the boy's face, " and this will not end well for you."

::::

Though he could not understand the words, Harry did glean enough from their tones and actions to know he was being led somewhere, and he shouldn't try anything funny or there would be consequences.

They packed up their campsite at an incredible speed and gestured Harry to walk alongside them. While their bodies seemed relaxed, Harry noticed the tense shoulders and the slight head movements scouring the road.

 _They act like soldiers_ , Harry realized. _They look to be only a few years older than myself, but who knows how long they've been in service._

He peered up at the two once more, staring at them in a different light.

_Though I don't know what kind of military has soldiers who dress so strangely. Again, where the hell am I?_

It was about thirty minutes of Harry walking between the two soldiers on a road until he saw a very large wall in their path. He figured that was their intended destination since the wall was the first structure he'd seen since waking up. The soldiers were discussing something in their language about his shape-shifting abilities—Harry was slowly starting to understand the words and put them into sentences, although speaking was a different action entirely. Instead of dwelling too much on this, he just focused on being able to understand the soldier's conversation a little more clearly. At least this would help him figure out what he needed to do to survive in this new world.

When they came closer to the wall, Harry saw large gates with people bustling around inside them. It looked like some type of town, a medieval looking one at that.

When they came to the outside of the gate into the town, two men also wearing strange outfits were sitting lazily at a booth and called them over. One of them had spiky black hair and dark eyes, and a bandage resting on the bridge of his nose. The other one had straight brown hair that tumbled down to entirely cover his right eye.

They both looked at Harry with confusion.

"So, who's the kid?" the first one with a bandage across his face asked the green clad man. "Pretty sure you didn't leave with one a few weeks ago." The bandaged man grinned.

"We found this youthful one in the forest," the green man stated, gesturing toward Harry. "He has a wonderful bloodline we want to show the Hokage!" Harry was sure his name was Gai, given how often the silver-haired one called him that. He had initially thought the other man was called "Kakashi," but Gai referred to him as "Rival" more than anything else, so he wasn't quite sure which one was his name.

The two men stared at him expectantly, but Kakashi/Rival interrupted.

"We are in a bit of a hurry, so we'll be off," he said, with a wave and an eye smile. He motioned to Harry and Gai to continue and followed behind them toward the gate.

"Alright, we will see you around Kakashi, Gai."

Harry wanted to ask what a Hokage was but still couldn't figure out how to say it. It was getting increasingly more frustrating not being able to talk and only able to understand what the two soldiers were saying. Especially when the silver/white haired one stated that if he had longer hair, he could be confused with a cute little girl.

Harry fumed at that comment, and it took every ounce of strength not to start cursing back at the man. He was nineteen for Merlin's sake! These emotional outbursts felt strange to Harry, as this younger body's urge to whine and complain seemed foreign to his nineteen-year-old mind. He pondered this strange and horrifying realization that he indeed was going to be starting over as a child, with child-like impulses.

"Well kid, welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village," Kakashi said peering over at Harry with his one eye. Harry just nodded. He still couldn't tell if this man meant to hurt or help him, so he figured staying timid for now would be beneficial.

"Hmm…." Kakashi stared at Harry thoughtfully. "I guess you do understand what we are saying then. That's good to know." Harry looked up and nodded once again. He wasn't sure what was in store for him next, but at least he could answer yes or no. This would have to do until he was able to figure out how to speak this strange language. And for what seemed to be the hundredth time this day, he cursed the Fates for making this "next great adventure" so difficult for him.

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 _This kid is an enigma,_ Kakashi thought as he stared down at the young boy walking dutifully next to him. _Large chakra reserves like this and unknown abilities usually scream foreign ninja or spy. I figured he was just an older shinobi with the ability to transform into a child just as he transformed into a wolf, but now…_

He stared down at the child once again, his trained eye catching the rapid breathing and small shivers from the young boy.

 _He either is a brilliant actor or… he's really just a lost child. One with a very unique bloodline limit._ He then pulled out his beloved orange novel and began to read, despite Gai's protests of reading 'that smut' in front of the child.

_Best to just let the Hokage deal with this one._

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The three walked through the place called the Hidden Leaf Village in silence, which was just fine for Harry. He was too lost in his thoughts about what this meeting with the Hokage, whoever he was, would mean for Harry. What if they decided it was better to just kill him and be done with it? Then another horrible thought occurred to him.

_What if I died and I'm actually in another dimension like the Fates talked about? Would this new world has its own heaven? If so… I won't ever be able to see my old friends and family ever again, just strangers from this world._

Harry's eyes filled with tears, and he tried his hardest to control the emotions waiting to explode. He sniffed involuntarily, drawing the gazes of the two soldiers. Gai gave Harry a sympathetic smile and patted his head rather hard.

"It'll be okay my young friend! The Hokage is a very wise man. He will see the youthfulness you possess and know just what to do with you!" This comment didn't calm Harry's nerves, rather the opposite. Harry didn't like that one man was the deciding factor on what will happen to him. In no time at all, they had arrived to a huge building in the center of town.

"This is the Hokage's Tower!" Gai said enthusiastically for Harry's benefit. Harry hesitated at the door, uncertain about the events that would unfold after he entered.

"Come on," the white haired soldier ordered casually, giving him a slight push through the doorway, "Time to see the Hokage."

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Harry took a large breath before slowly walking through the doorway, though he wasn't able to stop his hands shaking from nerves. Huge windows, capturing the magnificence of the entire village outside, lit up the circular room he had just entered. A small mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room, littered with stacks of paper haphazardly lying about. Old dusty books piled to the ceiling hid most of the walls from sight. A small elderly man sat behind the desk with a large pipe in hand. His puffs of smoke expertly circled his head like a halo before dissipating into the rising air. It seemed like this was a common pastime for the old man.

He was currently busy staring into an antique crystal ball, watching a seven year old with bright yellow hair playing pranks on unsuspecting people. He looked up as the two soldiers and Harry came into the room and grudgingly put the crystal ball away.

The elderly man's features resembled his old headmaster so much that for a second Harry was back at Hogwarts, walking into Dumbledore's study once again. Thinking of Dumbledore made Harry's heart hurt. He missed the quirky old man and his half-moon spectacles, strange wardrobe choices and all. Harry's eyes fluttered shut as Dumbledore's death flashed before his eyes without warning.

_A few members of the Order were engaged in an intense and lengthy battle after a small raid had turned into an ambush. Finding out that a traitor was amongst the Order was difficult, but no one had time to dwell on the fact while being attacked from all sides by death eaters. Harry, Kingsley, Bill Weasley, Hannah Abbott, and Hermione were all a part of this group and no one was equipped or ready to handle the large number of attackers._

_Dumbledore appeared soon after the ambush began, though how he knew they were in trouble was another mystery. The brief moment of cheer that they may get out of this alive turned bleak as the Order members realized Voldemort had arrived._

_Dumbledore, in all his glory, took it upon himself to distract the Dark Lord as the rest of the group tried to find a way to escape._

_"Harry, run!" Dumbledore exclaimed as Voldemort entered into the fight. He stood proudly in front of Harry, blocking him from view. Harry, clutching his bleeding right arm, stood frozen as he gazed into the red eyes of his parents' murderer._

_"Well, well, Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore; the two people I've been waiting most eagerly to see," Voldemort said smoothly, a malicious smile gracing his face. "I have to thank our new member for this happy reunion."_

_The Death Eaters laughed darkly, still fighting viciously against the other Order members. One face in particular stood out; Terry Boot, the traitor from Ravenclaw, had a manic grin as he stood smugly behind the dark lord._

_"You will all find out how you chose the wrong side! I'm glad I was clever enough to figure it out before it was too late."_

_"Mr. Boot," Dumbledore said sadly. "How blind one can be when faced with troubled times."_

_"Troubled times, Dumbledore?" Voldemort sneered. "It's more than just troubled when you are about to die."_

_Dumbledore raised his wand just in time to conjure up a shield against the first spell._

_"Kingsley, get Harry out of here!" Dumbledore ordered, summoning an immense golden shield to block the group from the number of attacks by Voldemort and his followers. The few Order members stood inside the golden dome and watched Dumbledore helplessly as he continued his fight with Voldemort._

_"Bill, disable the anti-apparition wards," Kingsley barked, and the eldest Weasley began muttering quickly with his wand in the air._

_"Break down that barrier!" Voldemort screamed, and the Death Eaters began firing spell after spell against the shield to no avail._

_Harry struggled against Hermione's tight embrace to try and find a way to help the Headmaster in his fight._

_"There will be other opportunities for you to fight, Harry," Hermione said as calmly as possible. "Getting the wounded to safety and living to fight another day is our priority right now. You do realize you are hurt, don't you? And Hannah doesn't have much time left." The blonde Hufflepuff was grasping her red stained torso weakly in the arms of Kingsley._

_Harry understood this, but watching Dumbledore struggle to hold the shield and keep up with Voldemort's brutal attacks was painful. It was clear the old wizard was wearing down. Dumbledore was on another level, but how long could anyone last against this?_

_"Got it!" Bill exclaimed, just as the shield dissipated. A yell of triumph from the Death Eaters was silenced as Dumbledore used the rest of his magic to raise a barrier around the Death Eaters and Voldemort so they would have time to escape. The only shortcoming was Dumbledore was inside that barrier and completely open to attack._

_With a hauntingly joyful cry, Voldemort cast his final curse and as Harry was side-apparated out by Hermione, his vision filled with a familiar blast of green light._

Harry's eyes prickled as they were filled with tears. He wiped them away with him forearm hastily; the situation before him was more important at the moment than rehashing bad memories.

"So, who is this young one?" the elderly man asked pleasantly.

Harry, now understanding the language relatively well, answered quickly, "Harry, my name is Harry."

The old man's forehead furrowed and he frowned deeply, glancing between the two men who'd escorted Harry.

 _Damn_ , Harry thought, seeing the reaction, _I said that in English again, didn't I?_

"Hokage-sama, we found this boy, though he was in the form of a wolf pup at first, in the forest we have been scouting the past three weeks. We brought him here to see what you wanted to do with him," Kakashi replied lazily after Harry's failed attempt at speaking up for himself.

All three of them stared at Harry, making him increasingly uncomfortable. He realized he was sweating rather excessively under his thick toga-cloak.

 _Okay Harry, you can do this_ , he thought with determination. _I just have to be able to say enough so they know I'm not a threat and then all of this confusion will be over._

"Harry," he said slowly, pointing at himself. "I'm Harry."

The old man stared at him with piercing blue eyes. "So, your name is Hari, little one?" Harry nodded quickly.

"Well, Hari, I see that you can understand us relatively well. Are you able to speak our language though?"

Harry scrunched up his face in concentration. "Trying," he said, and to his relief, it came out in their language. He looked up and smiled at the old man, who looked at him with amusement.

"Hmm, well Hari, what were you doing deep in the forest?"

"I got sent here by interfering Fates and have no idea where this is or what I'm supposed to do!" Harry whined, and cursed himself for saying it again in English. He closed his eyes.

_Okay, try something simpler…_

"Lost," Harry stated.

 _I guess I really will seem like a child if the only way I can speak their language is in one-word sentences._ He grumbled at the thought.

"Lost, you say…" the Hokage trailed off.

"Hokage-sama, if I may make a suggestion?" Kakashi asked, stepping up to the desk. The Hokage gestured for him to continue. "Maybe Yamanaka-san would be able to get some answers from him. We can't be sure if he is faking having this language barrier or not."

"Kakashi, you want to send a four year old to T&I!" Gai exclaimed. "His youthful mind could be destroyed! The Yamanaka technique is the most ruthless mind interrogation Konoha has!"

Harry did not like how the conversation was going at all.

"Yamanaka-san is out on a mission right now," the Hokage responded.

"Ibiki-san then?" Kakashi said, though his hesitance for the suggestion was made clear.

"He is even worse!" Gai argued. "There are rumors of Ibiki's interrogations that even give me nightmares! What about his subordinate, Anko-san?"

Harry noticed the white haired soldier and the old man both shivered.

"You want sadistic Anko to interrogate him?" Kakashi mused.

"Anko, ah, has not found her ability to use restraint in her interrogations yet," the Hokage confessed.

"But… Ibiki-san, really?"

This Ibiki character sounded more like a death eater than a soldier. Definitely someone he would have tried to avoid if possible.

_I have the worst luck in the world it seems. How do these soldiers even interrogate? They most likely don't have things like veritaserum, so do they use knives and such to torture their victims for answers?_

The Hokage rubbed his chin in thought.

"Even though I do not see this child being some sort of spy, it might be best to see if Ibiki is able to get some answers out of him. There are so many questions to have answered."

A look of horror shot across Harry's face. The Hokage saw it and smiled at him.

"Do not worry child. I will not let him harm you. Unless, of course, you are a spy, then I'm afraid it's a different story. Kakashi, please escort Hari to the T&I building."

Kakashi bowed, grabbed Harry, and jumped out the window, with Harry's foreign protests heard all the way out.

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"Gai, I would like you to go and talk to Ibiki personally before he sees Hari. I want you to explain the situation and let him know that this child isn't a suspect yet. We would just like to know who he is for now and where he has come from. I'm very interested in finding some answers as well."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Gai responded, and then bowed before heading out the door.

The Hokage sat back in his chair thoughtfully, his smoking pipe all but forgotten after the mystery of the young new arrival.

_Transforming into a wolf pup, eh? What a curious boy. It seems the prophecy I heard is coming true._

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

_I need to contact Jiraya as soon as possible. If he is indeed a part of that prophecy, I'm going to need assistance. Hopefully this boy will accept joining our village; it'll be interesting to see what kind of abilities he possesses._

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End Chapter 3

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	4. Ibiki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T&I doesn't go as planned.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chaper 4: Ibiki

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Kakashi landed in front of a building that in Harry's opinion was more of a prison than anything else: towering, thick gray walls with barred windows and a heavy door that screamed 'once you come in, you never come out'.

Harry had never been tortured before. He always knew it was a viable possibility during the war. He never thought he'd encounter this as a possibility just because of his existence though. He obviously wasn't a spy, but what if they didn't believe him? What if this man was just sadistic and didn't care whether Harry was innocent or not? Without a wand, he felt extremely vulnerable in such an unknown situation.

What was his story supposed to be? He had no idea about this world, but if they found an animagus transformation odd, then it seemed magic did not exist here. Should he tell the truth and be marked as insane, or lie and possibly get caught and then tortured for lying?

As they entered, the white-haired soldier led Harry silently down a long hallway. Harry involuntarily started shivering, thought it wasn't from the cold musty air that filled the building.

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Kakashi peered down at the shivering form and felt a small pang of guilt. He laid his hand awkwardly on the boy's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. Harry peeked up at him with wide eyes in response.

"Ibiki is pretty intimidating, but if you aren't a spy, there is nothing to worry about." The boy didn't seem reassured by his words.

Kakashi sighed. He wasn't any good at comforting people, especially children. He had zero practice with kids and avoided passing a genin team mostly for that reason. He guessed it might have been because he graduated so young and didn't have a typical childhood.

 _Where are his parents anyways?_ Kakashi thought. _Shouldn't they be worried about him?_ He shook his head, clearing that line of thought.

Kakashi brought him to a room empty of everything but two small chairs. Harry sank into one of the chairs and pulled his knees to his chest.

Kakashi, instead of sitting in the remaining seat, leaned against the doorway studying the boy. Seeing the frail looking kid hug his knees to his chest reminded him of himself after his father died, scared and all alone.

He stopped himself of thinking any further about it; it wasn't his problem. He did what was asked of him and brought in a suspicious person from the woods. He glanced once more at the boy before exiting the room.

_If he makes it through Ibiki, then I'll make Gai buy him dango as an apology._

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Gai appeared in Ibiki's office just as Kakashi walked into the building with the young boy. Ibiki was instructing his subordinate, a tokubetsu jonin named Anko, to finish all the paperwork he had put aside for too long.

"Yosh! Hokage-sama wishes for you to speak to a youthful boy my rival and I found in the forest! A language barrier hides his youthfulness. Please lend your help!" Gai grinned widely and added, "I know you can do it, my spirited friend!"

Ibiki stared at him blankly for a moment before turning back to his subordinate. "I'll be in the interrogation rooms if you need me," he stepped past Gai and out of the room, the other shinobi falling in step with him, "Is the kid already here?"

Gai nodded in the affirmative, "Yes, my rival was charged with bringing him here directly."

Ibiki pursed his lips, if the boy was with Kakashi he could be anywhere in the village. "So, why does the Hokage want _me_ to question a kid?"

"Young Hari has already shown to us his shining spirit of willful youth! He is able to shape-shift into a wolf pup, which is the glorious form he wore when we first came upon him in the forest." Ibiki was only slightly impressed with this information. But if the Hokage wanted him to question the kid, there must be something special about him, and not just a shifting ability.

Gai frowned, expression suddenly serious as he eyed his comrade. "Ibiki-san, the child seems scared and all alone. Please, don't be too hard on him."

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Ibiki stared unblinkingly at the boy. Even though this was how he usually started interrogations, he was not staring to freak the kid out. He was merely studying him.

_Well, he looks about five but extremely malnourished. Doesn't seem to have had a decent meal in weeks. There are faint scars along his body, a rather deep one on his left forearm, and a strange mark like lightning on his forehead. Might have been abused or tortured for a great length of time. His clothing does not seem local at all. In fact, I have never seen fabric such as that before. Hmm…_

What caught Ibiki's attention next were the boy's eyes.

_They are a striking green color, but they look very peculiar on his young body. Those eyes hold pain, suffering, and loneliness, eyes that I see mainly on shinobi veterans or rescued torture victims. This boy looks like he has lived through many years of war and death, which is what I find to be very strange for one so young. No, his eyes are much more interesting than any shape-shifting abilities._

_It seems torture is the most reasonable explanation for this boy's state. If he passes this, like I believe the Hokage knows he will, I will highly recommend this boy for therapy._

Harry tried to maintain eye contact with the man but was finding it very difficult. He felt to see if his occlemency shields were still erect. Something about this man reminded him of Snape, and while Snape had been a good man, he had still been a right bastard most of the time. He hid a wince as he struggled to sense any type of barrier into his mind. Hoping this man didn't know any type of legilimency, Harry started twiddling with his thumbs waiting for the man to start talking.

"So, Hari is it?" Harry nodded, looking up once again. "My name is Ibiki, and I am the head interrogator for Konoha. I should warn you that I can tell when someone is lying to me, so it would be best if you refrained from trying. I am a master in torture, but I would rather not have to resort to that." The man gave Harry a very Snape-like smirk. Feeling extremely nervous, he nodded again.

"Wonderful! So, Hari… Where did you come from?" Harry inwardly cringed. First question, and already he didn't know how to answer. _Okay, just keep it short and vague, and it will be almost like the truth without looking like an insane person._

"Far away," Harry said simply. "Home gone." Harry almost winced at how weak and childish he sounded. Keeping to simple answers and having the voice of a child was really starting to irritate him.

"Hmm… your home was destroyed then?" Another nod. "Alright. What about your family?"

"Parents dead," Harry replied. Kakashi, listening through a one-way glass with Gai and the Hokage, was surprised at the lack of emotion the boy had when talking about his deceased family. He glanced over at the Hokage, who looked troubled at the revelation.

"Are you a spy?"

"No."

"Are you working with anyone else who is a spy or from another village?"

"No."

Ibiki glanced at the window on the side of the room and gave a small nod, indicating it was the truth.

The Hokage, sitting behind the one-way glass, sighed with relief and smiled. He turned to Kakashi and Gai and said, "As I suspected. Now we will have to figure out what to do with him."

Kakashi silently agreed but kept his gaze on the boy. The Hokage will have to be careful with this one.

Ibiki continued the questioning. "And how old are you?"

"… Don't know." This was the first answer that really shocked Ibiki; there was no lie in the kid's statement. _How can a boy not know his own age?_

Harry was getting frustrated. He was able to keep it simple so far, but he didn't even know his age for Merlin's sake! He was technically nineteen, but he had no idea what age his new body was.

Ibiki was slowly losing his scare factor, as Harry was now just frustrated and ready for this to be over and done with.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"Are you a shape-shifter?"

"No. Just wolf." So he couldn't shift, eh? Ibiki glanced at the one-way mirror. This… boy. He was very interesting. Just not in the way the Hokage had expected. Harry was a riddle, one that Ibiki wanted very much to figure out. One after another, he fired questions away and received short, broad answers that only led to more fascinating questions.

"So Hari… how did you end up in the forest?"

Harry sighed. He had been in this room with this Ibiki man for about ten minutes, trying his best to answer truthfully without sounding mentally unbalanced. He thought for a second, and a good, albeit only slightly truthful, answer came to mind.

"Searching for sister," Harry said, hoping this man believed him. The Fates did say he had a sister, so he does need to find her at some point. Too bad he had no idea who she was or where she might be.

"So, you think she came to this village. What is her name? How old is she? Is she a ninja?"

A ninja?

Harry looked at the man with widened eyes. Is that what these people were? Ninja?

Harry remembered his cousin Dudley watching a television show with people all dressed in black, fighting with long swords. Dudley called it The True Ninja, though Harry wasn't sure if it was the title or just a character's nickname. Harry wasn't allowed to sit and watch it with him, but he used to hover in the background to catch a view minutes of the show.

The show had inspired Dudley and his gang to dress in black and run around the back yard with sticks and their pockets filled with small rocks, fighting and hitting each other. They only stopped when one episode showed the ninja jumping through trees, and Dudley tried to reenact it. Breaking your arm can cause you to become very disenchanted with a series apparently.

These people were the sword fighting, tree leaping ninjas he had found so interesting back then?

Ibiki saw the child's confusion, but couldn't fathom what it was from.

"Well?" Harry jumped out of his realization, remembering he was supposed to be answering the question. He could dwell on the consequences of being in a world of ninja if he ever made it out of this interrogation.

"Don't… know."

Ibiki, getting fed up with all the 'don't know' answers, was about to start in on the boy, when they were suddenly interrupted.

"Ibiki-san, I can't figure out what you want me to do about the incident in Iwa. Should I…. Oh." Anko looked up from the papers she was holding and realized she had interrupted Ibiki's questioning.

Ibiki refrained from rolling his eyes. After glaring at the boy to stay put, he stood up to snatch the papers out of Anko's hand.

As Ibiki read through the report, Harry took the time to study the young lady that had come in. She was wild looking, with spiky black hair and a wicked grin. He noticed she had on the same jacket that both Kakashi and Gai wore.

_She must be a ninja too then._

He was about to look away when he saw a head poke out of her jacket sleeve. A black snake's head. Shocked, Harry continued to stare at the snake as he heard him start speaking to his handler.

" _Mistress, the boy over there smells funny_." Anko tore her eyes away from the report then glanced at Harry. She grinned.

"Oh, smells funny how?" Ibiki looked up at Anko in confusion, but then saw her attention was directed at the small snake protruding out of her clothing.

" _He smells of places far away. Places I have never been_." Well, that was strange. Anko had been all around the continents with her familiar Habu, so hearing this boy was from somewhere new was surprising.

"Hmm… Habu says this boy is from a place he has never been before," Anko announced to Ibiki. "That is strange, because Habu has been to all the continents."

Harry, being able to understand everything the snake was saying, paled at the statement. He wasn't sure what would come of the insinuation, but he didn't think any of it would be good. He then realized, cracking the first smile since he'd been brought into this village, he had just found a way to speak without struggling with the new language.

" _It's not very nice to tell people they smell funny_."

Everyone in the room and behind the one-way glass stared at Harry as if he had grown two heads.

" _A speaker! I never thought I'd meet a true speaker such as you. I will have to tell my kin that a brother without scales has appeared."_ The snake excitedly left his mistress's flak jacket and slithered over to the young boy. He climbed up Harry's leg and came face to face with him. He tasted Harry's skin and squirmed.

" _You even taste different_ ," the snake admitted and hissed in laughter.

"Anko, can you understand him?" Ibiki asked slowly, still wrapping his head around the new development.

"Yeah I can. Ibiki, who is this kid? I've never even heard of a person being able to actually speak _like_ a snake."

" _It's called parseltongue in my language_ ," Harry said to the girl Anko. " _It's kind of rare, but I was born with this ability to speak with snakes_."

"Huh. So the kid was born hissing at snakes. You found yourself a unique kid, Ibiki."

"Anko, I need you to stay and translate for me. This will be much faster than the short one or two worded answers the boy has given me so far. Is that okay with you, boy?" Harry nodded as Anko settled herself against the back wall and Ibiki sat back down to continue the questioning.

"So, we were talking about your sister. Why don't you know anything about her?" Harry hesitated before responding.

" _My memory is messed up. I don't know anything about my sister, only that I have one, and she is supposed to be coming soon. I don't know when or where she will be. That's why I need to find her."_

 _Phew_ , Harry thought as Anko relayed his answer. _Still truthful without sounding insane. I'm starting to get good at this._

The rest of the questioning went smoothly, as Harry was now able to converse quite efficiently through Anko.

"Well that was certainly enlightening," said the Hokage, sitting back in his chair stretching as the questioning came to an end. "We have learned that the only family he has left is his sister who is missing, he is from somewhere far away, he can turn into a wolf, and that most all other information we could want he doesn't know because his memory has been compromised. What an interesting boy."

Kakashi silently agreed. Yes, the kid was an enigma; one that even people outside of this room would love to figure out. But his role in this was coming to an end. He had important things to get to, like visiting the memorial stone.

"Yes, well let's all return to my office and figure out what to do next."

:::::

:::::

:::::

Harry, Kakashi, Gai, Ibiki, and Anko, whose presence there was only because Harry had taken her snake Habu with him, all stood in front of the Hokage's desk. The snake, feeling Harry's nervousness, whispered comforting words into his ear.

 _Oh Merlin, this is it_ , Harry thought, his heart sinking into his stomach. _I should never have spoken to the snake! They are going to think I'm a freak because I can speak parseltongue. No wait, the girl can understand it, and she's okay. Maybe they will like that… But what if they think me being a wolf animagus is bad? What if they think I'm dangerous and kill me? Oh no, what if…._

Harry's thoughts are interrupted as the old man began to speak.

"Well, my boy, you have definitely made this an exciting day. We would like to help you on your quest to find your sister, of course, but if you said she is searching for you, then I think the best course of action would be for you to stay in one place. Then when she comes, she will be able to find you easily. Now, the question is, would you be opposed to staying here in Konoha?" The Hokage finished and stared at Harry with those twinkling eyes that were so damned familiar that he already knew what his answer would be.

"I will stay," Harry said with a smile. He did see the logical reasoning of staying in the village. First, the old man was right about the higher probability of his sister finding him if he stayed in one place. And if the Fates dropped him here, then maybe this "sister" would be dropped off around here as well. Also, he didn't want to keep traveling through forests. Harry wanted to find a place that maybe he could once again call home. Hogwarts was the only place he ever felt was home. If he had to live another life here, he wanted that feeling of belonging once again.

"Excellent! Now, since you are so young, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to live on your own. There is an orphanage," Harry quickly paled, " but I think the best option would be for you to stay with someone who will be able to take care of you and protect you if need be." The Hokage then looked at Kakashi with knowing eyes, which made the ninja realize what this would be leading to. The Hokage wanted the boy to stay with him.

Kakashi could understand the reasoning of course. He was a seasoned Anbu captain, one that other countries would think twice before confronting. He had no family to support and had quite the fortune piling up, so financially a child would be no problem. He was sure if he said no, he could walk away with this and go back to his life as normal. He didn't want the responsibility of a child. He didn't know anything about raising a kid, since he never really was one. But… the Hokage was entrusting him with this task and so it must be important to keep the boy safe. He had suspicions before, but now more than ever he believed the Hokage knew more than he was revealing to the rest of them about the child. It was too much of a coincidence that they were sent to scout those specific woods and this mysterious boy just appears out of nowhere.

Could he do it though? Raise this wolf child he just met? He glanced at the boy who was stroking the snake with a worried expression.

His eyes trailed back to the Hokage, who gave him another pointed look and raised eyebrows.

He could hear Gai enthusiastically rattling off names of potential guardians for the boy but knew what the final outcome would be.

 _Fine._ Kakashi tilted his head slightly to show his reluctant agreement. He hoped the Hokage knew what he was doing. The old man looked positively smug.

"He can stay with me, Hokage-sama," Kakashi stated, interrupting Gai's continued list of candidates. His offer came to the surprise of everyone in the room but two. Harry's head snapped up at the white-haired ninja with his mouth wide open. Kakashi rubbed his hair, embarrassed and unsure of what to say.

"I… have a spare bedroom that I don't use. I'll also be able to train him if he wants when I'm not on missions. Also, Genma lives next door, and I know I can talk him into checking on, um, Hari while I'm away."

"Kakashi, you are so hip and cool to offer the youthful Hari a home!" Gai proclaimed, giving Kakashi a thumbs up with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I will also offer my assistance in helping care for our young charge!"

The Hokage smothered the victorious smile that threatened to show on his face. Everything was going to plan so far. Kami knows Kakashi could use someone to give his life meaning. The boy needed a guardian, someone who wouldn't abuse the fact that he has unique abilities. And when the time comes and the prophecy comes to light, the boy will need that support more than ever.

"Hari, what do you think?" the Hokage asked, peering down at Harry who was still staring up at Kakashi.

Harry looked away from Kakashi and nodded slowly. He wasn't sure why this ninja had offered him a place to stay, but he would be careful. He was in a new world filled with ninja and other unknowns and with that comes new rules. However, this ninja said he would train Harry, and training is exactly what he needed to survive in a place like this.

Another small part of him had a faint hope for finally growing up with someone who didn't hate him. He remembered as a child wishing for a relative or just anyone to come and save him from the Dursley's and raise him like any normal kid. The man was a ninja however, a suspicious one at that. Normal doesn't seem very likely. While he felt confusing childish emotions swirling through his mind, he still was technically an adult so he really didn't need to be raised by anyone.

He forced his thoughts away and focused on the people around him.

"With that settled, I suggest, Kakashi, that you take young Hari home and get him settled in. He certainly has had a long day. Tomorrow you need to take him to the hospital for a check up and then you can show him around his new village. Be sure to stop at the Academy so he can see what to expect if he wishes to attend next year."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kakashi gestured for Harry to follow him and, after Harry had given Habu back to Anko, they left. Gai bowed and tailed behind them as well.

"Ibiki, is there anything you wish to add?" the Hokage asked curiously.

"The boy has been severely tortured. His sister may have been as well. I recommend therapy at the very least for him. I've seen torture victims go insane from something small triggering a flashback." The Hokage nodded gravely.

"And I am also going to continue keeping a close eye on the boy. There is something… odd about him. And I intend to find out what that is."

::::

Kakashi led Harry out onto the street toward his apartment. He noticed that Harry was getting quite a few odd stares and realized it was because of his clothing. The strange black cloth wrapped around the kid's body was definitely not a normal style around here.

"So, ah Hari, first thing tomorrow we will be going to buy you a whole new wardrobe." Harry, who had detected the weird glances he had been receiving, was awkwardly tugging at his cloak. He blushed and agreed instantly.

It wouldn't be prudent for him to strut around with a toga in a ninja village if he could help it.

"Also, Gai promised to buy you dango."

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End Chapter 4

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I have quite a few chapters I'm getting through and editing so those will be posted pretty soon. 
> 
> I do not have a beta... so if you see any mistakes, please let me know. If you are interested in being a beta for this story, send me a message and we can chat!


	5. Getting to know Hatake Kakashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's first day in the Hidden Leaf Village.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 5: Getting to know Hatake Kakashi

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Harry lay on his new futon, staring at the unusual objects lining the walls of his new room. Strangely shaped weapons, shelves filled with scrolls and bright orange books, and maps with lands and waters Harry didn't recognize filled the surrounding walls.

 _So this is a ninja's bedroom._ His younger self would have loved it.

_Dudley too, before he broke his arm doing stupid stunts he saw on that ninja show._

He had already looked all through the maps on the wall for a name he recognized, but had been unsuccessful. He could ask if Kakashi knew of a place called England, but after all he'd learned so far, he seriously doubted it. He'd find some history books later on to read up on this place and discover if this is in fact a new world. He would dwell on this terrifying potential confirmation when he wasn't so exhausted.

He thought of his new guardian Hatake Kakashi, and Harry still had no idea how he felt about him. His experience told him that everyone had an agenda, and he needed to figure out what exactly Kakashi's was.

_Why would he want to take me in? How could he possibly benefit from this?_

He yawned and turned over, cuddling against a soft blanket with a stuffed grey wolf under his arm. To his chagrin, his childish tendencies surfaced once again as soon as he walked into Kakashi's extra bedroom. Harry saw the grey wolf inside a box filled with Kakashi's old toys and immediately gravitated toward it. He almost giggled at the ridiculousness of a nineteen year old war hero sleeping with a stuffed animal. Harry was baffled by these inclinations that surfaced, but he decided it wasn't anything too serious to worry about just yet.

Kakashi didn't seem to mind that Harry chose one of his old toys, though it was hard for Harry to tell with his facemask hiding most of his expressions. In Harry's opinion, the ninja seemed confused as to what he is supposed to do with a child.

 _Does he not remember when he was this age?_ Harry wondered. _I guess I can't really speak, I only vaguely remember being a child. I just have memories of a lot of yelling and trying to hide frequently._

He huddled further into the futon, trying to decide whether to attempt to fall asleep or not. For the past couple of years, sleeping had been very difficult to come by. His nights usually consisted of either waking up to nightly death eater raids or a night of fitful dreams that always turned into nightmares. These nightmares would always lead him to being either shaken awake by one of his friends or woken up by his own screams.

He was so tired, but he didn't know how Kakashi would react if Harry had a nightmare.

_Best not to find out then._

"Silencio," Harry whispered with his arm stretched out, but instead of casting the wandless spell, pain jolted intensely into his hand.

 _What on earth…?_ Harry could still feel the tingling all over his skin, a sensation he'd never felt before. He sat straight up in bed and held his hand out again.

"Lumos," he said, concentrating on lighting up the palm of his hand. Again, a jolt of pain shot through his arm to the rest of his body. It was then that Harry started to hyperventilate.

_Oh no, oh no, this can't be happening! How will I survive this place if I can't even cast any spells!_

He tried his other hand with the same spell, tried to summon a small book, levitate his wolf toy in the air, and even change the color of his pillow. His magic was unresponsive and the only effect was the same pain in his hands. He sat on the bed, his hands both pulsing painfully as he stared blankly into the ceiling. He felt his magical core swirling in his abdomen, but nothing he did would bring his magic out.

It had taken him months of training after his nineteenth birthday to perfect his wandless abilities. A fact that had made Professor Snape both proud and bitter, as he was the one who had taught Harry this skill. His wandless magic had saved his life countless times; one memory especially came to mind. He had once been captured and taken to Malfoy manor, and his wand forcefully taken away. Even under the circumstances, he couldn't help but smirk at the memory of Lucius Malfoy's face after Harry blasted the bars of his cell and sent Malfoy flying into a far wall.

Since he didn't have a wand here in this place, the only thing he could rely on would be his wandless abilities. If he couldn't even do that anymore….

 _I am totally screwed_ , he thought anxiously. _But Kakashi, he said he would teach me to be a ninja if I wanted. If I learned that, then I could protect myself even without my wandless abilities._ His stomach churned at the thought of being so helpless.

 _I might have to think some more about this._ He wasn't sure whether he even wanted to be a ninja at all.

_But…. I was able to transform into my animagus form. So maybe I just need more practice!_

He started his breathing exercises, something he learned early on to help calm down impending panic. He breathed in slowly, held it for a second, and let it out, counting to ten each time. He finally felt most of the panic subside, much to his relief.

"I'll just have to deal with this in the morning," he whispered to himself before drifting into a fitful sleep.

_The basement meeting room at Number 12 Grimmauld place blurred and contorted all around him. Empty seats ran along the length of the long table, and Harry felt a painful pull in his chest for the growing number that would never be filled again as the Order of the Phoenix dwindled._

_"Harry, look at this," Hermione called his attention to the map spread out in front of them—Harry looked down at the blurry collection of houses and streets of the small town of Raven's Nest, located just outside London. "Voldemort will probably attack from this direction."_

_Ron nodded his agreement from her other side, "Harry, we'll send your team here, and Charlie will be in the air over here. During the defense, Tonks's team will come out of disguise and fortify our defenses here and here."_

_"I'll take my team down the main road," Hermione added, tracing out a path on the map, "We should be able to notify the largest number of people, and hopefully get them all to safety."_

_"Don't forget, it will be Christmas Eve," a sour, biting voice said behind him, and Harry turned to see Snape, peering over his shoulder suspiciously—his cheeks were more sunken and hollow than in the past, and his gaunt frame weary. "Families will be together in their homes, not about in the main street."_

_Hermione pursed her lips, "I know that, but the road is in the center of town—I'll send half of the group down the East side and half will take the West, but most of the side streets don't go all the way through the village, so we'll be working off the main road to coordinate."_

_"Work the details out with Seamus and Ernie," Harry said brusquely, pushing his chair back and rising, "We don't have much time. Christmas is only three days away, and we need to get Tonks's team out there now."_

_He turned towards the door and the room faded into darkness behind him, and when Harry ducked through the doorway, he found himself on the street._

Harry's breath began to quicken.

_"Oie, Harry!" A little girl with bubble-gum pink hair and a puggy nose ran down the street in front of him, and he turned to stare after her, eyes slowly rising to the air, which was full of black, shadowy shapes. He stared for several seconds, frozen, dread pooling inside of him and the horrible, echoing scream of his mother piercing in his ears._

_"Tonks!" He shouted as he shook off his daze, looking down the street again for the girl—but she had turned the corner already and was nowhere to be seen._

_"Harry," a voice said behind him, and Harry turned—his team stood behind him in the street, grim faced and determined, and Harry managed to still the trembling in his hands and pull out his wand._

_"First order of business is to drive out those dementors," he stated boldly, raising his own wand and pointing it towards the oncoming horde—"_ Expecto Patronum! _"_

_Silvery forms cut across the streets and through the air as patronuses of all shapes and sizes threw themselves at the dementors. Harry and his team advanced through the village streets—once in a while he caught sight of Charlie, or one of his team members, flitting through the air above them on broomsticks, glimmering white lights driving back the mass of dementors above._

_The streets were still, except their own teams and the dementors, fleeing before them. Hermione had already been through this part of town, and the majority of the residents had been evacuated. But for others, they could hear screaming voices echoing through alleys and streets, and as they advanced further, reclaiming the village, they came across bodies. The villagers they hadn't been in time to save—staring blankly and unmoving, mouths slightly parted, empty of souls. Victims of the dementor's kiss._

_Harry tried not to look at them, but their hollow eyes stared back at him all the same—accusing. He was supposed to have saved them. He should have gotten here earlier._

_The most horrible sight was near the edge of town, where two small children lay in each other's arms, vacant expressions on their small, round white faces, eyes turned up towards the skies. He watched, numbly, as one of the newer recruits approached them, trying hopelessly to wake them from their daze, even though Harry knew they never would. Their bodies were still alive, but those children were now nothing but emotionless dolls, a fate worse than death._

_"Ca—" Harry started, when the younger man started to become almost hysterical in his desperation—he never finished the sentence, because the man dropped dead in front of him, a violent, green light hitting him from the side._

_"Back!" Harry shouted, head jerking and body instinctively slipping into a lower crouch, wand in his hand and eyes searching for their enemies. "Get to cover!"_

_They were still apparating, appearing further out in the streets, one after another, spells flying almost the same instant they materialized. Harry sent a spell flying in return, and behind him his team did the same as they retreated further back down the street. The death eaters were still appearing, and Harry cursed when he saw groups of them knotting together._

_"Everyone—get out of here! Now!" He shouted—he saw one of his team turn on the spot and disappear, even as he moved to do the same, but they were too late, the rest of their attempts at apparation failed. The death eaters had managed to erect their anti-apparation wards in time; they were trapped._

_They fought as they retreated, back towards the main road, more of his team falling under curses and spells as they struggled to gain distance and cover on the larger attacking force. People screamed around him—friends, people he cared about and had fought beside before—and there was nothing he could do for them but hope they got out alive._

_He ran around another corner, bringing up the rear guard on his team, and spun, motioning for his team to run to the next street down, when a black-cloaked figure ran out from a side-alley. Harry's wand was on him in an instant, and half a spell out of his mouth before he recognized Seamus Finnigan._

_"Harry!" The other man called and Harry quickly dropped his wand and cut off his attack. "Hermione sent me!"_

_Harry's eyes widened and he looked around, half expecting to see her standing behind him, "Where is she? Has your team made it out yet?"_

_Shaking his head and taking a moment to catch his breath, Seamus pointed up towards a tall office building back in the direction he'd come from, "They're safe—Hermione wanted to make sure everyone else got out, too."_

_Jets of light burst out of one of the upper windows in the building, aimed down at the street below, and as Harry watched, several red bursts of light struck the side of the building from the street, causing the whole thing to shake._

_"They have to get out of there!" He breathed, staring in apprehension as a growing number of curses struck the building._

_"She said they would be right behind us," Seamus assured him, passing Harry a worn tennis shoe—he recognized it as one of the portkeys they had set up ahead of time._

_Harry drew his eyes away from the building under siege reluctantly and looked around at the remaining members of his team. They were red-faced and weary, breathing hard and covered in sweat, dirt, and blood from their retreat through the village. Even if there was anything they could do for Hermione, they would never make it past the death eaters. They were too exhausted. He would have to trust Hermione to take care of herself._

_Nodding to Seamus, he held out his own portkey and ordered their retreat._

_As the last of his team grabbed hold of his and Seamus's portkeys, the familiar sensation of bending space and time hit Harry harder than usual, and the next thing he knew, he was kneeling on the ground, opposite Ron, who was clutching Hermione's body._

_The woman was limp on the ground and unresponsive, her eyes open but dark and dilated and staring lifelessly. Blood soaked her clothes, matted her hair, and painted red, gory streaks down her face from an open wound on the side of her head._

_Harry couldn't breathe, he could only stare, horror warring with disbelief. Silence hung heavily around him and it was as if the world had ceased to exist. There was only him, Hermione, and Ron, tears streaming down his face._

_A wave of sound crashed in around him and the world sped up again. Ron was sobbing, loud, hysterical cries as he pulled Hermione from the growing puddle of blood underneath her, gathering her unresponsive form in his arms._

_"I'm sorry—I'm so sorry—there wasn't—the building just collapsed and—I'm so sorry—" somewhere behind him, Ernie Macmillan was rambling, his own voice thick with tears and sharp with pain._

_Harry couldn't look away from Hermione, even when someone started shouting behind him—this time loud and angry—and across from him Ron surged to his feet, face red and wand drawn._

_"You bastard!" He wasn't sure if it was Ron or Charlie or George—or even more than one. "You complete and utter bastard! She's dead—it's your fault—I can't believe you would—"_

_He saw the light of the spell, reflecting off the walls around them, and then Ron was screaming again, stumbling back to Hermione's side and practically collapsing on top of Hermione's bloody corpse._

_"I'm so sorry—" Ernie was still apologizing, his voice choking with sobs._

_And Harry stared, tears slowly gathering in his eyes as he looked at his two best friends—one dead, one broken, both covered in blood—and the sounds of their pain shaking around him._

_"H-hermione," he managed, a weak, scratchy whisper._

_"Hermione!" The second time, it was louder, desperate, because this couldn't be happening._

_But it was happening—and hadn't it happened before? It was all happening again._

_His third attempt was less her name and more of an inarticulate scream, desperate and painful, as his body shook and sobs started to bubble up, he joined his best mate in mourning—and that was when he knew that none of them were going to survive this, and it wasn't a game, and even if they_ did _survive, they would wish that they didn't—_

"Hari! Hari, wake up, it's just a dream."

Harry jerked awake and looked at Kakashi warily. His throat felt raw. He'd known not having a silencing charm would lead to problems like this. Now he had Kakashi staring down at him with an unreadable silence, and he didn't know how to explain.

"Wait a moment," Kakashi said finally and disappeared. Moments later, Kakashi returned with two steaming mugs.

He handed Harry a cup of hot tea and sat on the edge of the bed. Harry took a sip of the tea and was surprised he actually liked it. It had a nice vanilla flavor and soothed his throat nicely.

"I used to drink this tea after missions when I was younger. I had terrible nightmares and would wake up very similarly to you most nights." Harry stared at him in shock. He never thought the stoic man would open up to him about something so vulnerable.

"My sensei would always give me this tea, and we would drink together and talk about it until it wasn't as painful as before," the man explained quietly. "Now, every time I have a bad dream this is the only tea that calms me down."

They sat quietly for a few more minutes just sipping the tea before Harry broke the silence.

"Thank you," he muttered softly, not knowing what else to say. He was grateful for the tea, but mostly for the fact that Kakashi hadn't started nagging him about what his nightmare was and why he was screaming. Which is exactly what Hermione would have done if she had been here. He shuddered. It was too early to be thinking about Hermione so soon after that dream.

Kakashi cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Maa, it's no problem. I'm, ah, here if you want to talk about it." Kakashi then took the two empty cups and silently left Harry's room.

Harry glanced at the clock and saw that it was already four in the morning. He groaned. There was no way he was going to be able to get back to sleep. He stretched and quietly got out of bed. He pulled on the old clothes Kakashi gave him, a slightly large pair of black shorts and a black t-shirt, to last him until they went shopping later that day.

_There is no way I'm going back to sleep, so I might as well do something productive._

::::

Kakashi lay in bed wide-awake, thinking about the strange boy now under his care. For someone so small, to have such frightening screams… it wasn't natural. He'd seen comrades from the war suffer from terrible night visions and wake up in a similar fashion. Even he himself had gone through nightmares like that.

Kakashi heard the light footsteps of his charge in the kitchen. He felt at a loss. He didn't know how to handle a child, much less a child who has obviously suffered greatly.

 _I just reacted like Sensei used to_ , he thought. His sensei would have been great at caring for a kid, like he should have with Naruto. Kakashi shook his head, trying to stop that line of thought. Instead, he turned his thoughts back to his new charge.

_What could this boy have possibly gone through to have such horrible nightmares?_

::::

::::

Kakashi yawned loudly as he threw a kunai at the raging alarm clock next to his bed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before realizing what he had done to his clock.

 _That is the fourth one this month_ , he thought with annoyance as he stood up and stretched. _I'll need to remember to buy more when we are out shopping today._

As he got dressed and headed out of his bedroom, he noticed an appealing smell coming from the kitchen. He peered inside and saw the boy placing food onto two plates and laying them on the table.

"Come eat," Harry said simply, gesturing for him to sit down. Kakashi wasn't sure what to say so he did as he was told. On the plate were scrambled eggs and toasted bread with jam, which was food Kakashi didn't remember buying. Kakashi stared thoughtfully at him for a moment, reassessing his impression on Harry yet again.

_So this is what the boy was up to early this morning._

Kakashi thanked him and began to eat the first home-cooked meal he'd eaten in weeks.

_::::_

Harry was annoyed. His idea of cooking to get his mind off of the dream was made difficult by the kitchen having almost nothing edible. Most of the food was spoiled rotten and thrown angrily into the garbage. It was a small blessing the bread had not expired.

"You need to get groceries!"— _No, wait, that was English_ —"Not much food, need more," Harry muttered, looking down at his own plate.

 _I sound ridiculous!_ Harry thought savagely. _When will I be able to finally speak clearly?_

"We can go today while we shop," Kakashi finally declared between bites. "I usually don't keep many groceries in the apartment, but since you are staying here as well, I will make an exception." Kakashi crinkled his eye, and Harry presumed he was smiling.

Harry watched him eat with the ability to still hide his face behind the facemask. Harry wondered briefly what the man hid so expertly behind the mask. Scars seemed a likely reason given his occupation. Harry resisted the urge to touch his own lightning scar. He understood the desire to want to hide them.

Studying the chopsticks in Kakashi's hands intently, Harry now saw a new challenge develop in front of his eyes.

Harry picked up his chopsticks warily and awkwardly held them. It didn't help that the Dursleys had never taken him to an Asian restaurant, so he had never tried them before in his life. He watched Kakashi closely and tried to copy him but to no avail. He ended up getting frustrated and stabbed the eggs instead.

Kakashi didn't comment on Harry's obvious struggle but noted how strange it was that the child did not know how to use chopsticks. It was just another oddity that Kakashi put in the back of his mind for later evaluation.

::::

Harry stared at the stall in horror.

While he was living with the Dursley's, he was never taken when his Aunt, Uncle, and Dudley went to eat fancy dinners; therefore, sushi and other strange fish and seafood cuisine looked alien to him.

 _People actually eat that stuff?!_ he thought with morbid curiosity.

As he stared at the multitude of raw fish and other aquatic selections, it hit him again how very different this place was compared to what he was used to.

They picked out enough food to last about a week. Harry chose items he was actually familiar with, because he figured he would be providing most of the meals. Kakashi had mentioned earlier how he barely knew anything about cooking unless it was rice or over a campfire. Maybe down the road he would learn how to cook the seafood options, but that would be a challenge for another day.

They dropped off their groceries at the apartment and headed to a clothing store nearby. Kakashi helped Harry choose a wardrobe with some casual clothes and also some outfits for training. As Harry tried on clothing options, Kakashi left and bought a bag full of alarm clocks though Harry had no idea why he needed so many.

Harry couldn't figure out the strange sandals some people wore, so he chose some black boots that were more comfortable for him. Harry's training outfit was a short-sleeve black shirt with a green Hidden Leaf symbol on the front and black pants. Kakashi even joked about getting Harry a facemask to match his if he became a ninja. Harry gulped at the price of the clothing, but when he tried to take some of it back, Kakashi waved him off and paid for it.

"Hokage-sama said he would help pay for your clothing since you didn't have any when you arrived here. So don't worry, it's no trouble," the man assured him. They walked out of the store with three bags full of clothes, and Kakashi led Harry to a bench outside.

"Stay here for a second so I can drop these off at the apartment, and then we can head to the hospital for your check-up. After, I can show you the Academy if you want to see it." Harry nodded in agreement and sat obediently as Kakashi disappeared with a poof and a swirl of leaves.

 _It's a little like apparating I think_ , Harry thought. _Maybe they have their own variation of apparating so I will be able to do it even if my magic doesn't work!_

There was another thing bothering Harry about not being able to use his wandless abilities. He had been able to transform into his animagus form without a problem but trying to perform a simple lumos caused him intense pain. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't know how to begin figuring it out. He would just have to keep attempting spells and see if something changes.

He watched as a father and son strode along the road in front of him. The boy couldn't have been any older than Harry and was happily skipping along while grasping his father's hand. Because he never had a father figure in his early years, Harry didn't understand why his heart suddenly felt heavy from watching this father son duo.

Kakashi returned and motioned for Harry to follow him. Harry got up and stared at Kakashi's empty hand. His hand flexed involuntarily. Harry looked at his hand in shock and shook his head vigorously - this was silly. He was an adult, he didn't need to be coddled.

He clenched his hand into a fist and followed Kakashi diligently.

Kakashi kept his nose buried in an orange novel as he escorted Harry to the hospital. They were led to a room, and a nice old man named Masaki came in to greet them.

"So I hear you are the little man who appeared out of nowhere," he said, smiling down at Harry. Harry, who never liked hospitals, tried to smile back but made a pained expression instead. "And you are here just for a check-up, nothing to worry about. My name is Masaki, and I'll be your medic today. I'll just need to take a blood and urine sample from you and give you a simple physical."

After getting his finger pricked and providing a urine sample, he was told to strip to his boxers and Masaki took his blood pressure, heart rate, and checked his spine.

"How old are you, Hari-kun?" Harry shrugged his shoulders, and Masaki looked at Kakashi with confusion.

"He doesn't know how old he is. His memory has been affected, so he doesn't know much about his past at all." Kakashi answered for him.

"Hmm…." Masaki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well in my professional opinion, I would say he is about five years old, though he is a little underweight. I think some nutrient supplements will be beneficial for a couple of months just to get him on track for someone his age." The man smiled and winked at him.

Harry nodded, smiling in return. He had always been underweight so this was no surprise for him. Though the idea of getting to a normal size sounded great. Maybe he didn't have to be the shortest kid his age this time!

"Kakashi, I assume you are the one I should contact when the results of the tests come back?" Masaki asked as Harry was redressing.

"Yeah, that's fine," Kakashi replied, before lowering his voice. "It was also recommended that Harry speak with someone, is there anyone you would suggest?"

Masaki rubbed his chin in thought.

"There are a few Yamanaka who specialize in pediatric therapy who may be well suited for him. I'll ask around and see who is available for him."

Kakashi nodded and turned toward Harry, who was now fully dressed.

"Time to go, Hari-chan." He promptly picked the boy up and jumped out the window.

"Hatake…." The medic grumbled after them. "Does he even know how to use a door?"

Harry protested on the way down, but Kakashi only chuckled at the boy's antics and waved off his protests.

"You'll get used to it. I never use doors."

They landed outside and started the trek towards the Academy. On the way, Kakashi spotted Genma and Raido talking with two ladies and headed over to introduce Harry to them. "Hari, this is Genma and Raido. Genma is our neighbor and will be watching out for you when I am gone on missions."

Harry glanced at the man named Genma. He had short brown hair and held a sharp pointy thing in his mouth. It seemed like a safety hazard to Harry.

"Seems we will be spending some time together then, huh?" Genma said and winked at him.

"He breaks into a strange language every now and then, but you get used to it." Harry glared at Kakashi with his best attempt at a Snape glare, but apparently five-year-olds couldn't pull it off very well, because Kakashi just lazily smiled back at him.

"Aw, isn't he just the cutest!" one of the ladies exclaimed, smiling down at Harry like he was a small puppy.

Raido's eyes lit up. "Well if Genma can't keep him, I am always available to babysit. I just love kids." Raido grinned as the two ladies gushed over how sweet he was to volunteer. Harry rolled his eyes at the vulgar scene. He would not be used to help this man pick up girls if he could help it.

"Just ignore him," Genma whispered in Harry's ear. "He is a little single minded when it comes to the opposite sex."

"I'm off to show Harry the Academy, but you can come by anytime," Kakashi announced, grabbing Harry's hand and leading him down the street again.

"Bye!" Harry shouted over his shoulder and waved at the ninja as they left them behind. Genma seemed like the type of person he could get along with well. Raido… not so much.

He never understood the boys in his year who acted like idiots trying to impress the girls in his class. There were always more important things going on in the Wizarding World than dating. Though maybe he missed his chance on experiencing the dating life, and now he'd have to wait another ten years before having another go at it. Harry groaned at the thought of going through puberty again.

The Academy was a medium sized building with kids sparring in a training field outside. They appeared to be only a little older than Harry and already looked like professionals. Harry and Kakashi watched them in silence for several minutes, and Harry silently marveled over what they could do.

It was definitely intimidating and weird to think that this was common here.

_I was a soldier once and failed. If I want to succeed in this world, I'll have to do it on their terms._

"Want to learn," Harry declared, pointing at the kids sparring.

Kakashi patted him on the head. "Well good, I was hoping you'd say that. We will start training tomorrow!"

"What…?" Harry asked in surprise, starting to feel just a little worried—did the man trick him somehow? Just what was he getting himself into now?

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End chapter 5

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this so far! I'm editing the later chapters now so will have updates for you soon. 
> 
> If you see any mistakes, let me know! I don't have a beta right now, so sometimes it's easy to overlook.


	6. Training Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Harry's ninja training is off to a rocky start, but at least he meets some new friends.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 6: Training Begins

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Harry lay gasping on the soft grass. His first day of 'training' consisted of Kakashi wanting to see how in shape Harry was, so Harry suffered through what Kakashi referred to as a fit test. His current body was small and frail, so it was easy to see that Harry needed a lot of work to catch up to the kids he saw at the Academy.

He kept reminding himself that this was what he wanted, but his reassurances failed to quiet his aching muscles.

"First I want to see what your speed and accuracy are," Kakashi had explained when they first arrived earlier that morning. He pulled out some kunai and shuriken from his pouch. "These are blunted so you won't accidentally hurt yourself or others depending on how terrible you are at throwing."

Harry glared fiercely at him, but Kakashi continued as if he didn't notice.

"I've set up targets all around the trail you'll be running. The objective is to hit as many targets as you can while completing the path as fast as you can." Harry glanced at the path he would be running; it twisted in and out of the forest and surrounded an entire training field.

"I was thinking about three laps for your first day?"

And that's how Harry's abysmal morning began. It turned out that though he was deemed average in his speed, his accuracy was horrible. Out of the thirty targets, he might have hit five in all three of his laps.

"Well, at least now we know target practice will be a daily routine when you start your real training," Kakashi noted. "As well as building up your speed. Now, for stamina, I want you to run the perimeter of this training field and count the number of laps you complete until you can't run anymore."

Kakashi watched the child struggle as he attempted a fourth lap. It was odd how he kept tripping as though running was a new motion for him. He was impressed Hari had made it this long, though it seemed as if he was running out of steam. Kakashi's guess was correct as he saw the boy stumble to the ground, and instead of trying to pick himself up, he stayed down.

"Kakashi," Harry panted. "You mean." He heard a chuckle coming from his right side but was too tired to turn his head.

"You'll get used to this kind of work if you really want to become a ninja. You're only five, so the training you will go through is not something everyone has access to. This will put you way above the other kids your age. Who knows, maybe you will graduate early like I did." Kakashi looked at his watch.

"Oh, I was supposed to meet a friend. You'll be okay here for a while?"

Harry grunted and rolled his eyes. Apparently Kakashi took that as 'I'm fine, now go and leave already' and poofed away with a twirl of leaves.

 _I hurt too much to get up and this ground is comfy. I think a nap is looking like a wonderful idea._ And Harry, exhausted from the workout, instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Harry woke up to the sound of soft breathing next to him. For a split second, he felt like he was back in his four-poster bed in the Gryffindor dorms, until he realized Ron's breathing was much louder and consisted of snoring. He snapped his head toward the sound and saw two boys next to him. The sleeping boy lying beside him had his black hair pulled into a spiky ponytail and his hands behind his head like a pillow. The other boy, who was a bit on the larger side, with a brown mane of hair and swirls on his cheeks sat quietly with a wrinkled bag of empty chips in his lap.

"Erm… hello?" Harry said hesitantly. The large boy turned to stare at him and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry to sneak up on you while you were sleeping. Shikamaru loves taking naps too, so when he saw you laying down over here, he decided we should join you."

"It okay," Harry replied, lying back down to stare at the clouds. He pointed to himself. "Harry."

"Oh, yeah, I'm Akimichi Chouji. This is my best friend Nara Shikamaru. I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"He is the new boy that the jounin Hatake Kakashi took in." The sleeping boy startled Harry when he suddenly decided to join in the conversation. "My dad was telling me about you. I hear you can turn into a wolf."

Harry nodded, embarrassed. He didn't realize other people would know who he was. This wasn't like in the Wizarding World. He wasn't famous here and scars were common among ninja.

 _I guess even in this ninja world I had to be viewed as different somehow,_ he thought grimly _. Welcome to the second life of the still famous Harry Potter._

"You can turn into a wolf? That's so cool! Can you show us?" the round boy asked excitedly. Harry nodded and a second later, he was being pet by the Akimichi boy.

"Shikamaru, this is amazing. Do you know if it is a bloodline trait?" The lazy boy turned his head to study Harry's small wolf form.

"I've never heard of any ninja being able to do something like this, especially without hand signs. There is a strong possibility that it's some type of bloodline, but I have never heard of it."

Harry's wolf enjoyed the scent of the two boys. One smelled of sweet barbeque and the other's scent was like a forest. He liked them both. He transformed back, and the Akimichi boy cheered and patted him on the back.

"Do you want to play with us sometime? We usually go and play ninja with some of the kids in our class. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you came along." Harry hesitated but agreed nonetheless. Even though playing with little kids didn't sound like the greatest idea, these two boys were very nice and it wouldn't hurt to act like a real child sometimes.

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Kakashi stared as Harry inhaled his lunch. Since the boy was his responsibility now, he took to studying the oddities that came from the child. It was strange that for a boy so young, he seemed to have haunted eyes at times. Eyes like the shinobi that fought in the last war. Now, there were times when Harry was so excited that he lit up like a happy five year old should, but those oddly would also surprise the boy. Strange indeed. He wondered if the medic had found a suitable therapist for Hari to meet with. If the boys nightmares were any indication of what he went through before coming to Konoha, therapy would be imperative for his growth and healing.

"It has been mentioned to me that I should find you a tutor," Kakashi announced, startling Harry away from his food. "You need to learn more of the history of the villages and how to speak properly."

"It's not my fault I can't speak perfectly yet!" Harry responded, only to blush crimson when he heard it come out yet again as English. _Okay maybe I do need a few lessons_. _And I definitely want to start learning some of the history from this world…._

"Hmm… I wonder if I could convince Gai to teach you. Maybe make it into some sort of challenge…." Harry could barely hear Kakashi's mutterings but still felt a chill down the back of his spine.

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"Yosh! My esteemed rival has revealed a new challenge for me! I am to teach you how to speak proper Japanese, and I will complete this before he is able to teach you chakra control. I will win or I will do one thousand push-ups and sit-ups! If I cannot do that I will do one hundred laps around Konoha on my hands!" Gai struck a pose and grinned maniacally, which absolutely terrified Harry.

And so began the first day of Harry's real training. He woke at seven, cooked breakfast with Kakashi, and then began his lessons. Kakashi had a month off of active duty so he had time to train Harry. Kakashi decided to continue working with him on his speed and accuracy in throwing the ninja weapons on top of helping him with chakra control.

Harry went to see Gai afterwards and was forced into the man's crazy teaching traditions. Gai believed that learning was part mind part body, so before they began his language lessons, the two of them went on a two-hour run to 'prepare his mind for youthful learning'.

In the late afternoon, Kakashi showed Harry how to meditate and work on locating his chakra.

"These exercises will help you learn chakra control. If you are not focused, you won't be able to utilize your chakra for jutsu."

So, Harry spent the whole afternoon with a leaf placed on his forehead, trying to keep it balanced while he meditated. Chakra was something obviously foreign to him. It was so different than magic, and he was not used to anything else being used as a source of power. As a result, the leaf stubbornly refused to stick to his skin for more than a few seconds.

"Don't get frustrated or you will lose focus and your concentration will be shot." Kakashi's advice seemed helpful but did not make the exercise any easier.

They went back to Kakashi's apartment that night with Harry's head hung dejectedly toward the ground.

"Don't worry Hari, no one gets this on their first try. Or their second try. Focusing your chakra for someone your age is very difficult, but if you practice and work hard, it will become second nature to you one day."

"Thanks, Kakashi," Harry said, grateful for the optimism in Kakashi's words but still annoyed. It may be difficult for someone who is actually five, but he wasn't. He should be able to learn things much faster than a normal kid. They walked in a comfortable silence until Harry's stomach rumbled loudly, much to his embarrassment. He looked up sheepishly at his guardian.

"I suppose we should stop and get some dinner first," Kakashi stated while chuckling. He was starting to grow fond of his ward and beginning to believe that it wasn't a total disaster in volunteering to look after him. Even if the Hokage all but forced him.

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Harry was thankful for his first day of training. He was so exhausted that night, he had no time to think about his past or have any dreams at all. However, he woke up the next day with his muscles screaming in pain. When Harry told Kakashi about his soreness, Kakashi gave him a scary smile.

"You'll work out the soreness during your training today," he said a bit sadistically.

Harry's training routine the next day was the same as the first day except after lunch, the two boys Shikamaru and Chouji came to see if he wanted to play ninja with them. Harry didn't know what 'playing ninja' was, nor could he see the fun in playing ninja with children. Still, Harry found himself looking up at Kakashi for approval.

"Of course Hari can go with you. He is still having trouble speaking, so don't think it's weird if he speaks gibberish." Cue glare. "But Hari-chan, be sure to be back for your chakra control training later tonight." Harry nodded and leapt toward his new acquaintances.

"Bye!" Harry yelled out the door, waving jauntily. Kakashi watched him go with a strange expression gracing his covered face.

"Hey everybody! This is Hari, and he is here to play ninja with us!" Chouji remarked happily as the three joined a group of kids running around in an odd pattern Harry couldn't figure out. One of the boys approached Harry and leaned into his face, inspecting him.

"He seems a little too young to play with us," the boy said finally, and Harry couldn't help but get irritated. This boy reminded him remarkably like Dudley. It was like elementary school all over again.

"Oh, come on Akiyo, he is only a few years younger than us, and he has already started training to be a ninja so I think that qualifies him to play with us," Chouji retorted.

"Too bad Akimichi, I say he's too young, and I don't want him to play with us!" the boy named Akiyo hollered at them.

"Tsk, troublesome. Chouji, we will find people to make our own ninja game," Shikamaru stated and turned to walk off. As Chouji and Harry caught up with him, he looked at Harry and said, "Don't worry about those kids. They are from civilian families and don't understand the importance of Clans sticking together."

"Clans?" Harry had heard others referring to 'Clan business,' but he wasn't sure what it meant.

"Clans are what make ninja villages strong, with either unique jutsu known only to members of a particular clan or a Kekkei Genkai, particular abilities that are passed down genetically. Civilian ninja are important, too, of course, but the clans are what give every village a unique set of strengths and weaknesses." Shikamaru explained.

"Hmm…." Harry thought over the information about bloodline limits. _The fates told me I would carry someone's old bloodline. I wonder what it could be?_

Harry heard a commotion coming from where the kids were playing the ninja game. A blond boy had come up to them apparently wanting to play as well. Harry stared as he watched a couple of parents swoop in and practically carry their children away from the boy. He noticed the parents' glares at the child, and Harry wondered what he had possibly done to warrant that reaction.

He followed the boy with his eyes as the kid walked dejectedly toward a single swing to play by himself.

"Hey." Harry said softly tapping Shikamaru's shoulder, not wanting to be overheard.

"Hmm?"

"Him? Why?" It seems Shikamaru was able to understand what he was wanting to say.

"Ah, that is Uzumaki Naruto. He is in our class at the Academy and is a prankster." Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and sighed. "All the adults have always hated Naruto for some reason and tell their kids not to talk to him, even before he was pranking people all the time. I asked dad about it, but he wouldn't tell me why."

Harry gave him a confused expression.

"And you?"

"Both our dads told us to make our own decision," Chouji piped in. "Naruto is loud and annoying sometimes, but he is funny so I don't mind him."

Harry glanced at Shikamaru, waiting for his response. Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto is troublesome and kind of an idiot, but he's not a bad guy. He doesn't deserve all the hate he receives from others."

Harry nodded, secretly glad these two weren't the type to pick on someone just because others did. He was reminded of his childhood as Harry Potter when he was bullied and ignored because his cousin didn't want anyone to like him. He knew how terribly lonely it was to be left out of all the games by the other kids.

 _I also know how devastating it is to have everyone hate you too_ , Harry thought bitterly, reminiscing about his fifth year when the whole school and the media hated him. _But at least I had some friends on my side then. This boy doesn't have anybody._

"Chouji! Shikamaru! It's time for you to come back home for Clan training." An older man in a shinobi uniform came over and gestured for the two boys to follow him.

"What a drag," Shikamaru mumbled. He stuck his hands in his pockets and lazily started to follow the shinobi. "See you later Hari."

"Bye Hari!" Chouji said enthusiastically. "We will definitely get our own group together to play next time!"

"Bye," Harry replied, waving his hand. He then looked around for the blonde boy so he could introduce himself, but the swings were empty and the boy was nowhere in sight. Hopefully the boy was around next time so they could invite him to play.

Harry walked back to his apartment much happier than before. These two boys were good kids so he wouldn't mind spending more time with them. He also had the potential to help someone who really needed a friend as well.

_As someone who knows how it feels to be left out, I don't like seeing someone treated like that._

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To Kakashi's chagrin, Harry soaked up all the language lessons very quickly. They assumed it was because his amnesia made him forget how to speak, so him getting reacquainted to the language came easily. After only a week, a triumphant Gai strutted around the village to let everyone know of his latest victory over his rival.

"YOSH, I HAVE BEEN VICTORIOUS IN A CHALLENGE OF MY RIVAL'S CHOOSING! THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH HAS YET AGAIN TRIUMPHED OVER THE HIP KAKASHI!"

Even though the two were inside their apartment, Kakashi and Harry could hear Gai's shouts through the walls.

"Does he always do this when he wins?" Harry asked cautiously, thankful for the ability to voice his thoughts completely.

"I have come to realize I should never assume anything when it comes to Gai," Kakashi casually replied.

"Kakashi." Harry glanced at his guardian with pleading eyes. "Please please, never, ever instigate a competition between the two of you ever again. At least not one that you won't win."

"I WILL RUN ONE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND KONOHA IN CELEBRATION! IF I CAN NOT COMPLETE THAT, I WILL WALK FIFTY LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS!" With his final statement, Gai set off to begin his multitude of laps around the village. Sighs of relief were heard all around as soon as Gai left the villagers alone.

Kakashi gave Harry his famous eye smile. "Yes, I doubt I will do that again." Harry grinned with relief written across his face.

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Instead of discontinuing Harry's lessons, Gai decided he would teach him hand-to-hand combat.

"We will begin with the Academy level tai-jutsu! With your small size though," Harry glared, "we might have to incorporate some variations for you." Gai showed Harry the katas he would be practicing and helped him perfect the motions. Harry's body slowly began to adapt to the new routines, and he became faster and more agile as the practice continued.

 _Maybe there was a method to the madness of Gai's insane traditions after all_?

Genma, who had started to become a regular addition to Harry's daily life, decided he would teach Harry proper manners, including the correct honorifics to use and how to bow. He thought it was quite funny to see the little boy struggle so much on a simple bow.

"Hari, it's very simple. The depth of the bow determines the respect or familiarity you have with the person you are bowing to." Genma showed him yet again an example of a bow used for a Kage or the head of a family. Harry moved his torso forward awkwardly.

Genma chuckled at the attempt as Harry scowled at him. _I never had to bow to anyone in the Wizarding World! No one did! Well… come to think of it, that odd wizard Degalus Diggle bowed to me once when I was a kid._ Harry inwardly grinned at the expression on his Aunt's face after it happened.

 _She'd have a coronary if she saw the people I'm associated with now. They dress even stranger than wizards!_ He smiled at the thought, and then continued with his practice.

All of his lessons were tough and demanding, but Harry was feeling stronger and healthier than he had ever felt in his life.

_I am given regular meals and exercising, two things that never happened with the Dursleys if I didn't count running from Dudley during 'Harry Hunting' or weeding the garden. I wonder if I'll be able to grow to a more normal height instead of the scrawny 5'7" I used to be._

He grinned at the implication.

 _Bring it on, ninja world._ Harry thought with an inward grin. _I'm ready for you._

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End Chapter 6

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos so far! I love hearing feedback on this story.


	7. Forming Bonds

The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 7: Forming Bonds

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Three months later and Harry was rapidly improving in his training.

With his new eyesight, hitting targets actually came pretty easy for Harry once he felt comfortable with the movements. Not having to deal with flimsy glasses any longer also proved to be most advantageous. Though he wasn't strong enough to throw a kunai very hard, seven times out of ten he hit the bulls-eye.

The workouts for Quidditch during his school years paled in comparison to what his workouts now entailed with Kakashi. He finally got to the point where he was enjoying the pain in soreness and felt invigorated after a long run. It was silly to think that as a five year old child he was in the best shape of his life, though it was nevertheless true.

On top of the work outs, he continued training with his chakra as well. It took Harry a few extra weeks longer than he would've liked, but he finally had a breakthrough with his chakra control. Once he figured out that chakra was channeled through his body like wandless magic, he was able to balance the leaf easier and longer each time he tried. He used his memories of the wandless lessons with Snape to understand exactly what he needed to do.

_"Potter, you must focus! The Dark Lord will be using every advantage he possesses against you. If you are unable to gain some decent dueling skills, you will fail and all our work will be for naught."_

_Harry coughed and struggled to catch his breath, his hands placed on his knees. He wiped the sweat off his brow and held his right hand up again in preparation. Snape gave him no warning before sending an array of curses his direction. Harry ducked and fired a half formed curse with his hand toward the oncoming attacks._

_"Potter, pay attention to the direction of your spells. A missed attack is a failed attack and will only be wasting your power." Harry stopped moving as Snape approached him with a sneer. "And I have to say, Potter, that was pretty pathetic. Even if that spell had hit me, it would have only paused me for a second."Harry winced and forced down a spiteful retort. Even though Snape and Harry had put aside their past aggression toward each other, Snape never wasted an opportunity to knock Harry down a notch. His sneer softened as he continued._

_"You are not channeling your magic into your hand correctly. With wandless magic, there is no wand to channel the magic in your core to the desired destination. You have to use your body as the wand and your hand as the release point. Visualize this when casting. Now, again!"_

_These lessons continued until Harry was able to cast all types of spells wandlessly, making Snape, though he denied it until the end, an extremely proud mentor._

Even though his chakra control was improving, Harry was having no headway with his wandless magic whatsoever. Every night before he went to bed, he would meditate and concentrate on his magical core to try to cast a spell into his hand. The now familiar jolt of pain still shot down his arm each time, becoming a throbbing ache throughout the entire appendage. He knew he probably should stop trying. Common sense told him to stop, that this was one hundred percent causing more harm than was necessary, but he just couldn't give up the hope that his magic would come back to him.

Harry was also meeting with Yamanaka Naoji once a week to talk. Harry had never been to a therapist before, so it was new to tell things about himself to a complete stranger. Since most of his experiences were from a past life, there wasn't much he could say when Naoji asked about life before Konoha. They usually chatted about Kakashi, training, and how he was getting along with everyone.

It was relaxing to talk through the adjustments to his new life. Even though he couldn't explain details, Harry also spoke about the sadness of losing his family, the fear of the future, and his nightmares. Nao-san helped him start working through his overwhelming grief and how to heal. He also talked through how to cope with nightmares which was surprisingly helpful. Harry understood why therapy was recommended for him - he would have benefited largely from it in the past to deal with the abuse from the Dursleys, the pressure of being thrust into the spotlight, and the struggles of surviving in a tumultuous wizarding world.

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Harry was winding down his usual morning stretches and katas before his training for the day. His movements and form were close to perfect and soon he'd be able to start learning how to fight. Kakashi was pleased with Harry's progress. The little five year old was improving rapidly with his speed, accuracy, chakra control, and now learning the basics of taijutsu.

"You may become a talented shinobi after all," Kakashi announced after Harry finished going through the katas while balancing a leaf to his forehead using chakra control. Harry grinned.

"Yeah, and one day I'll be even better than you," Harry said cheekily, skipping around Kakashi with the leaf still firmly attached to his forehead.

"Mah, it's always possible. Though, you'd have to be able to catch me first!" Kakashi took off and Harry laughed and cheerfully chased after him. Both of them enjoyed the brief moments where they could act like kids, though in Harry's case it was more like acting his own apparent age.

Harry had steadily grown fond of his guardian through the three months being in the Hidden Leaf Village. Kakashi was like the big brother he never had but thoroughly wished for. He also let Harry be independent, which was very lucky. Not many people would give a five year old as much leeway as Kakashi did.

And Kakashi never admitted it aloud, but he was quite happy Harry had come into his life as well. The only family he had before was his sensei's son, and he wasn't allowed to approach him yet. If the Yondaime's last student started to act familiar to Naruto before he was a shinobi, people could possibly make the connection of Naruto's birth-parents and would lead to him getting many dangerous enemies, or so he was told.

Other than Kakashi, Gai and Genma had also wormed their way into Harry's life and acted like doting Uncles, wanting to help Harry grow as a shinobi and as a happy and healthy young boy. Though they were only a few years older than his past self, Harry looked up to all three of them very much.

"Let's go get some lunch, Hari," Kakashi said when he noticed the boy slowing down and taking deep breaths. "And Genma said he would drop by to see if you wanted to go and train with him."

Harry grinned up at Kakashi but was still too out of breath from chasing him to answer. Kakashi took this as a yes and started to meander back to the apartment, pulling out a familiar orange book to read while checking over his shoulder to make sure Harry was following.

On his walk back to the apartment, Harry felt a shock jolt up his right arm. He hissed in response, but the painful sensation went away as quickly as it appeared.

 _What was that?_ Harry wondered. _Did I push myself too far last night?_ He flexed both his arms instinctively, waiting to see if the pain would occur again. Harry saw Kakashi falter briefly in front of him, most likely checking to see if he was okay. Harry continued his walk to the apartment and after a few moments of moving his arms about, he shook his head and dismissed it as a fluke.

_It was probably nothing after all._

They arrived at Kakashi's apartment, and Harry ordered Kakashi to sit and let him fix some lunch. Kakashi sat down at the table at Harry's insistence and watched the boy scurry around the kitchen with interest. Harry's taste in food was… more eccentric than Kakashi was used to. Just the night before, Harry made a bizarre casserole of ingredients that was odd but strangely delicious. Kakashi wondered if they were recipes from his dead parents, or things he made up to get by.

"Here!" Harry exclaimed, setting down a surprisingly normal plate of onigiri in between his seat and Kakashi's. "Genma showed me how to make these the other day. Now I can make normal food too."

Kakashi smiled under his mask at the excitement his young charge was showing when talking about learning how to cook new food. He personally didn't see the interest in cooking anything; his idea of a good home cooked meal was instant noodles. The perk of having a cook in the house, though, was always having a homemade meal, and this was definitely a good thing in Kakashi's book.

"Something smells good in here!" Genma's head popped through the window before he climbed into the kitchen. Harry had learned very quickly that windows were much more popular for ninja to use than doors.

"Yep, I cooked lunch," Harry piped up, hurrying over to make Genma a plate as well. Genma grinned happily at the food placed in front of him and he tucked in.

"You did a great job with this Harry, I'm impressed." Harry smiled at the compliment as he made his own plate before sitting down.

"So, Hari," Genma said through mouthfuls of food, "would you like to come and do a bit of training with me today?" Harry's eyes lit up. Training with Genma was always interesting. When Genma taught, it reminded him of Remus's lessons in Defence. Lessons were hands on and unique, but always informative. Last time they had done 'in the field training,' and Genma had him stalking one of the chunnin instructors for a good twenty minutes before said chunnin caught on. The training now involved into him stalking anyone and everyone at different times each day to see how long he could go without getting caught. Genma said it was good stealth training for later on.

"Yes, of course!" Harry agreed immediately. He finished his lunch quickly, and Kakashi waved him off when he started picking the dishes up.

"You cooked, so I'll clean. Go ahead and train with Genma." Kakashi gave his famous eye smile and shooed the two of them out the window.

Genma led him across rooftops and stopped on a roof overlooking the main street. Harry was proud of his improvements with maneuvering on the tops of buildings. He was hesitant in the beginning, but realized how much easier it made traveling around the village. The streets were bustling with afternoon shoppers and shinobi traveling through, so traveling above them vastly shortened their travel time.

"Okay Hari! This training is going to be a little different than the usual stealth training we've been doing." Genma pointed at a young teenage girl looking at jewelry displayed at a stand and gazing particularly at a pair of sparkly earrings.

"Now, that girl in the purple dress. Is she a kunoichi or a civilian?" Harry narrowed his eyes to stare at the girl, but nothing out of the ordinary stuck out to him.

"Err… civilian?" Genma smirked and shook his head.

"She's been a genin for a few years now," Genma stated, and Harry's eyes widened before turning to study the girl in a new light. "Look closely. Watch the way she instinctively glances at her surroundings. Her body also moves in a swift and lucid way and you can see the trained muscles flex in her arms and calves. If you look at her right thigh too, you can see the impression of the kunai held there."

Harry tried his best to notice everything Genma was saying, proud when he was able to spot the kunai strapped to her thigh and saw her body flex instinctively as a passing merchant brushed against her shoulder.

"Being able to determine whether the people around you are shinobi or civilians is vital to your survival when on a mission outside the village. So today you will be attempting to find the off-duty shinobi in the crowd. We won't get too detailed for your first time, but later on I'll have you determine what level the shinobi is. When you become better at noticing the details, you'll know what kind of a threat any foreign shinobi is and whether you can fight them or need a quick escape."

Harry sat dutifully in a comfortable spot on the roof and started to scrutinize the crowd, searching for any of the details Genma had mentioned. Genma surprised him by jumping down and buying them both a box of dango.

"People watching is much better when you have a delicious snack," Genma said innocently, munching on his first stick of dango.

"Don't lie Genma, you just always want dango."

Genma chose not to reply, his mouth full of dango.

They sat on the roof together eating dango and watched as the shinobi and civilians passed by. Harry spent the time guessing, with Genma confirming or correcting, and he got it right about half of the time.

"This is a very informative lesson," Harry said after about half an hour. "Your trainings are always interesting, Genma."

"Don't tell Kakashi that, or he might get jealous," Genma replied, sending Harry into a fit of laughter—though the excess of sugar Harry had consumed might have been the cause.

Harry slowly started to become more proficient at spotting the differences between the civilians and shinobi, though the off-duty jounin still fooled him most of the time. Genma made him feel a little better by telling him it took him years to notice the high ranked jounin hidden in crowds. After finishing all of their dango, Genma stated the training session was over and they both headed back to the apartment. On the way there, Harry glimpsed Shikamaru and Chouji, and they waved him over. Genma pushed him towards his friends, and Harry wandered over to where they were playing.

"Hey, Hari, we haven't seen you in a while," Chouji said while munching on some chips. Harry rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he had picked up from Kakashi.

"Well, I'm hoping to start at the academy soon, and Kakashi has been helping me learn more about being a shinobi."

"Sounds like you are going to be really bored in there if you already know everything," Shikamaru commented. "Though it's always boring there, especially the first year, so I guess it doesn't matter."

"Well Kakashi graduated early when he was younger, and I'm kind of hoping that I can be like him and graduate early too," Harry replied, admitting for the first time his goal for the Academy. He didn't want Kakashi to know what he was aspiring for in case he was disappointed when Harry didn't succeed.

"I heard it is really hard to do that, but I'm sure you can do it, Hari!" Chouji stated confidently, giving Harry a warm smile. Harry responded with his own, grateful that the boys didn't make fun of his ambition.

"So, do you guys have time to play another game of ninja?" Harry asked, a little guilty he hadn't sought after the two boys too often. Shikamaru glanced at his watch.

"Actually, Chouji and I are late for dinner at his house already." This was verified by a large shinobi from Chouji's clan trying to catch their attention. "Next time for sure though."

"Oh yeah, Hari, before we go, we promised one of the boys in our class that we would introduce you to him," Chouji stated. "Kiba is from the Inuzuka clan who raise and fight with nin dogs. He wanted to see your wolf form. And then we can all play ninja tag!"

"Yeah, that sounds fun. And I haven't really transformed in a while, so it will be nice to let Moony come out and stretch his legs." All three of the boys grinned.

"Want to meet us outside the Academy after school ends tomorrow? We can show you around as well, since you are going to be starting there soon." Harry nodded his consent and headed back to his own apartment where Kakashi was waiting.

::::

While Harry was out with Genma, Kakashi was summoned to the Hokage's office for a meeting.

"So how has our young Hari been? Have you noticed any oddities about him to help figure out where he could be from?"

"Nothing other than not knowing what chopsticks were and strange cooking recipes," Kakashi replied with a slow shrug. "Other than that, he really just seems like a normal young boy that had to grow up too fast."

"I've spoken with Yamanaka-san who said his therapy sessions are going well, but he still won't open up about the specifics of his past," the Hokage said. He puffed another ring from his pipe. "We've put out word about his sister, but with so little information, there have been no leads. I don't want him to be fretting about her still being missing. Has he remembered anything more about his sister?"

"He hasn't really mentioned her at all since he came into my care, so I don't think he has remembered anything, but I will ask him later." Kakashi replied.

The Hokage hummed thoughtfully.

"I have been thinking about Hari's situation, and I have decided that you should go ahead and incorporate him into the Academy. He should be training with children his own age. His training with you has been beneficial, but now he needs to learn from his peers about teamwork and what it means to have the Will of Fire."

::::

The next day during training, Kakashi called Harry over after he finished going through the training course for the third time. He was only a bit winded, his body having built the necessary muscle to complete the tasks Kakashi dealt out for him day after day.

"That's enough for now. I've talked to the Hokage and the first year Academy teacher, and we've decided that if you are willing, you can start classes beginning next week."

"Yes!" Harry agreed excitedly with a grin, all the weariness from training forgotten.

"Also, the Hokage wanted me to make sure you were doing okay with everything." Harry looked up at him curiously, not really understanding the question. Kakashi continued, "Well, you came here searching for your sister, and we haven't been able to locate her yet. The Hokage has all of his networks putting word out to keep an eye out for a girl searching for a boy named Hari, but no leads have come up so far. Have you remembered anything else about her that would help in the search? I'm sorry for not asking how you were about this earlier."

Harry looked down guiltily. He had almost completely forgotten about the so-called sister that was supposed to be coming after him. But he didn't even know who she was or when she was going to be arriving in this world, so it had just slipped his mind.

"I'm… okay. I haven't remembered anything about her, but I know she will come sooner or later. I'm sure of it," Harry responded confidently, giving Kakashi a big smile. "And I really like living with you and training with you, Gai, and Genma. You guys have really become like a family to me." Harry blushed immediately after realizing what he had just said. He didn't mean to comment on his feelings toward his guardian out loud, especially if Kakashi did not see him the same way.

Kakashi patted Harry on the head and gave him his famous eye smile.

"I couldn't agree more."

Harry felt a lump in his throat. Both his nineteen-year-old self and his five-year-old self yearned for family, and Kakashi's offhand reply made Harry feel like he could burst with happiness. He tried to play it off nonchalantly as they walked back home for lunch, but he knew Kakashi noticed the small smile and the not-so-casual movement of wiping his sleeve against his glistening eyes.

:::::

"A speaker, you say?" the quiet, haunting voice asked.

"Yes, the word has spread to all my brethren. He is a snake with no scales and is one of our kin. You are not allowed to hurt him, or I will eat you," the summons bared his poisonous fangs to show the seriousness of his threat.

"Hurt the boy? Oh, no, I have plans for this one... I can't wait to meet him, ku ku ku..."

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End of Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Would love to hear your feedback so far.


	8. Moony, Spars, and Growing Pains

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 8: Moony, Spars, and Growing Pains

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Harry ambled down the street toward the Academy to wait for Shikamaru and Chouji to show him around. Kakashi had put him through a grueling training practice that morning so he could have the afternoon off to see the two boys. He arrived at the Academy a little early, and he sat on the nearby swing to amuse himself by twirling around in circles.

While he was waiting, he decided to try channeling his magic into his hand again. It was almost habit - attempting to use magic whenever he was alone to see if maybe this time it would work. It was illogical, stupid even, to keep trying but he just couldn't stop.

"Lumos," he whispered, holding out his right hand and concentrating, forcing the old familiar presence of magic into his hand. The now very typical pain shot down his arm, coursing through his fingers like lightning. He hissed involuntarily and stopped attempting the spell. His right hand stung for three to four minutes before falling into a relieving state of numbness. The pain in his arm had lasted longer than it ever had previously, and that realization made him frown.

_This is going to be a problem._

Harry heard noise coming from inside the building and a few seconds later, kids spilled out into the front of the Academy.

"Kiba, here is the boy we've been telling you about!" Chouji said happily, leading a wild looking boy over to the swing Harry was currently occupying. Harry jumped off the swing and walked over to where Chouji and Shikamaru were standing.

"Hi, I'm Harry," he said, smiling up at the much taller seven year old. The boy reminded him of a young Remus, except that this boy's canine features were evident on his face.

"I'm Kiba," the boy replied excitedly. "I hear you can turn into a wolf. Can I see?" Kiba's announcement was a little loud, and a few of the academy students overheard and began peering over at Harry.

"Of course," Harry said, glancing uneasily at the growing crowd. Even now, he still didn't like being at the center of attention. He transformed into Moony, and the other seven year olds gasped in surprise.

"Aw, he is so cute!"

"That's so cool! Can he teach us how to do that?"

"I wish I could take him home!"

Moony preened under the attention, but Harry sat stiffly as some of the Academy students pet his fur. A flash of orange caught his eye, and Harry turned to see the young blond he remembered from the playground a few months back.

Harry had searched for the boy a few times, but felt guilty he didn't try harder to find and befriend the lonely boy. Determined to make up for his previous lack of effort, Harry bounded over to the boy and tackled him to the ground, barking and wagging his tail playfully. The boy laughed out loud and began to chase Harry around the yard.

"Leave him alone, Naruto!" A blonde girl screeched. A few of the other kids started yelling at him as well, but Harry decided to stop this before it escalated too quickly and transformed back.

"Naruto isn't doing anything wrong," Harry stated firmly. He didn't like the pack mentality of the children here. It was too much like his past.

"Hari stay back, our parents said he is dangerous!"

Dangerous? A seven-year-old? Harry almost started laughing at the ridiculousness of it. The poor kid looked so dejected by the comments of his peers. Harry knew when these kids got older, this bias would change, but it seemed their bullying only extended from how the older generation perceived the boy.

Harry didn't understand why Naruto was hated. It made him more determined to gain the boy's friendship.

"It is ridiculous to think of a young boy as dangerous," Harry called out to the kids who were yelling.

"You know what? Naruto is going to be my friend from now on." He grinned at the shocked faces, but none were more shocked than Naruto. He stared gaping at Harry, looking as though he didn't dare believe what the boy had said. So Harry, taking advantage of the boy's hesitation, grabbed his hand and pulled him over the Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba.

"Why don't we all play ninja?" Harry offered, looking at Naruto for confirmation. "You guys can show me around the Academy some other time. What do you think, Naruto? Do you want to play with us?"

The blinding smile from the young boy made it all worth it.

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Kakashi peered from behind a tree at the young kids playing in the yard. He couldn't help but grin proudly at Harry's announcement of friendship to Naruto.

 _At least my kid can see past the ridiculous judgmental comments made by most everyone else in the village_. Kakashi choked as he realized what he had just thought.

 _My kid, eh?_ He slipped into the safety of the trees to head to his favorite training ground. He needed to stop this line of thought before it became dangerous.

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Harry had a blast playing with Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and Naruto. Though he felt too old to be playing and at times it felt a bit awkward, watching Naruto beam happily at him every time he looked his way made it more than tolerable. He decided it would be fine to play with the boys on a normal basis, just to ensure this boy always had kids to play with.

"And soon I'm going to be going to the Academy with you guys too," Harry said as they wrapped up the end of the game. "I won't be in your class or anything, but I'll get to see you guys more now."

Shikamaru looked at him thoughtfully.

"You said you've been training under Hatake Kakashi ever since you came here right?" Harry nodded his agreement.

"Humph, troublesome. I doubt you'll last a week in the lower classes."

"Whatd'ya mean by that!" Naruto yelled, growling in Shikamaru's direction. "Hari-kun is going to do great! He won't fail, believe it!"

"That's not what I meant Naruto." Shikamaru rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "I meant that Hari is probably going to be too advanced for those lower classes and will end up getting moved to a more difficult class. But that's just my guess."

"Well Kakashi said I was almost to genin level now," Harry said thoughtfully, as the other four boys stared in shock. "So I guess it wouldn't be too strange to be moved up a class or two."

He also had the benefit of having a mature mental state, so learning new things and grasping concepts was incredibly easy compared to the other children his age.

"Hari, you are just full of surprises," Kiba announced with a grin. "Glad that I got to meet you before you went and become a big famous ninja out there."

"I'm the last person who wants to be famous, trust me on that one," Harry said confidently. He chuckled a little on the inside.

_These guys have no idea._

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Harry left the boys to head back to his apartment for the night. Naruto didn't want to stop playing, but Harry promised him they would do it again soon and the boy finally agreed to head home as well.

He decided to travel as Moony since he rarely used his wolf form anymore, and the day had reminded him how much he loved it. He passed a delightful smelling shop filled with exotic herbal aromas and paused to enjoy the scents tickling his nose. As he sat there sniffing the air, he saw one of the Academy boys pass by who'd left the school at the same time as Shikamaru and Chouji.

 _Maybe they are all in the same class?_ Harry wondered before Moony decided he wanted to follow him. The scent coming from the boy was burning ember and something else even Moony couldn't identify so of course he was curious. Feeling a bit like a stalker but justifying it as stealth practice, he followed the boy through the village, keeping to the shadows. The black haired boy in question began looking over his shoulder every now and again, and Harry would dart into bushes and behind trash cans to avoid being seen.

Harry grinned, showing off his baby canines. This was fun! It reminded him of one of Genma's training sessions, and he couldn't wait to tell his older friend about it.

Harry turned a corner and hesitated. The boy had disappeared. He sniffed and could still smell the ember but didn't see the young ninja-to-be anywhere. Harry was about to transform back into himself when he was suddenly picked up from behind. He began panicking before realizing it was the boy from before.

"There you are! Why have you been following me? Are you lost?" The boy studied Harry for a moment before tucking him under his arm and walking in a completely different direction.

Harry couldn't believe it. He'd been caught! Never mind telling Genma about this, he would never speak of it ever again.

"Now who do you belong to? The Inuzuka's?" the boy muttered to himself, smiling shyly at Harry. "I thought they only trained dogs though, not wolves." Harry, still embarrassed and trying to decide whether to show himself or not, hung limply in the boy's arm.

"But if you don't belong to anyone, want to stay with me? My nii-san is always too busy for me so it would be nice to have someone to play with." Harry just nodded, surprising the boy. "Hmm, so you must be pretty smart. Maybe you'll be a good wolf-nin when you get older."

 _This boy must be pretty lonely if he wants to play with a wolf pup._ Harry thought. _But why doesn't he play with the other kids in the Academy then?_

Harry made a decision then. To hell with it, if he was going around befriending all the downtrodden and lonely children of this village, he might as well be thorough about it. Hermione would be proud. He hopped out of the boys arm and transformed, smirking at the boy's dropped jaw.

"Hi, my name's Harry," he said, rubbing his hair with embarrassment. "Sorry for following you. My wolf thought you smelled good so he wanted to meet you. And I wanted to test my stealth by hiding… though it seems I may need more practice." He grinned sheepishly.

"Hnn, I'm Sasuke. Wait, you're the wolf from the Academy today! Is it a Kekkai Genkai?"

"Um, I guess you could say that. I don't think I could teach anyone how to do it."

Sasuke nodded. "Hnn. That's pretty cool. Well I'm off to go train, so I'll see you."

"Uh, wait. Would you mind if I trained with you? I've only ever trained with older people and never someone close to my age." It was sudden, but Harry actually considered it a good idea. If he wanted to be ready for the Academy, he needed to train with others closer to his own apparent age.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"Do you think you can keep up? You're pretty young." Harry nodded fervently.

"Alright, come on, I'll teach you a few things, but if you're too slow I'll leave you behind."

Sasuke led him to the woods close to the Uchiha compound. They arrived at an open area, and Harry spotted some worn wooden posts battered with holes. He figured this was Sasuke's typical training spot. Sasuke started to run through the Academy katas as warm-up, and Harry went through the version Gai taught him. They went through some throwing drills, and Sasuke seemed surprised Harry wasn't lying about his training. It made the boy curious to how strong Harry really was.

"Who trained you?" he asked suddenly, startling Harry out of his focus on the target. The younger boy faltered and brought his kunai back to his side.

"My guardian Hatake Kakashi, his friend Gai, and my neighbor Genma." Sasuke's eyes widened at the name Hatake Kakashi, remembering his brother mentioned it a few times in conversations with their father.

_This boy must be pretty strong then._

Sasuke peered down at Harry thoughtfully.

"… So, do you want to spar?" He asked.

Harry grinned and agreed immediately. He was excited to spar against someone close to his own physical age and wanted to gauge his ability against someone already in the Academy. Kakashi, Gai, and Genma were great sparring partners, but they always went easy on him and infuriatingly still managed to win.

Sasuke lead Harry to a nearby training field not far from where Harry usually trained so they would have a bit more space to run around. He felt a chakra flare to notify him that Kakashi was around somewhere close by.

_I'd better show him that I can keep up with the Academy kids or he might change his mind about letting me attend._

"First to draw blood, then?" Sasuke inquired and Harry nodded. That seemed to be the best way to identify a winner. If they fought to a forfeit, some shinobi wouldn't give up until they passed out or were too injured to move. Not a good way to end a friendly spar.

"Okay, begin!"

Both boys hesitated a second before Sasuke charged in close, and they began testing each other with tai-jutsu.

Sasuke's arms and legs were longer, and he was stronger than Harry who was quickly put on the defensive. Harry felt every punch that he blocked connect with his forearms with bruising force. After taking two such blows, Harry jumped back to open the distance between them.

He wasn't expecting the ball of fire thrown his way, and he only just managed to dodge, staining his clothes with grass as he tumbled across the ground in a controlled roll. Apparently, Sasuke was way ahead of his classmates if he was able to perform fire jutsu on that level. He'd have to be careful not to get caught or he'd be seriously burnt.

Harry threw a series of shuriken that had Sasuke dancing back in a retreat and gave him a few precious seconds to think of a strategy. Kakashi hadn't started teaching him any nin-jutsu yet, and in this match up, nin-jutsu would win over close range fighting.

 _If Kakashi is watching, maybe this will be a good motivation to see that he needs to start teaching me nin-jutsu,_ he mused with a touch of irritation.

A plan was slowly forming in his mind. He threw a smoke bomb from his shinobi pack he wore around his waist and began sprinting head on toward Sasuke as plumes of thick, gray smoke engulfed their training area. Using chakra to enhance his muscles, something he learned just recently, he flipped over the boy's head while Sasuke coughed on the fumes. The smoke dissipated as Harry landed lightly on his feet, and he crouched under the expected kick coming from an annoyed seven year old.

His duck turned into a sweeping kick against Sasuke's sole supporting leg and the older boy stumbled off balance. Harry threw the kunai still in his left hand and smirked as it nicked Sasuke's side as the Academy student was a little too late turning his tumble into a roll.

Sasuke corrected his balance and rubbed a fist against his side where Harry had hit him. The kunai had barely scraped him, but it was enough to break the skin. A little smear of red appeared on Sasuke's hand.

With the realization that their fight was over, the adrenalin slowly began to drain from Harry's body, and he became aware of the ache from the bruises that must be already forming on his arms, and a sharper pain in his right shoulder. He turned his chin to look, and hissed at the sight of a shuriken sticking out of his skin, one corner buried maybe a centimeter into his flesh, with a shallower scratch beneath it showing the path of a second blade. He hadn't even noticed in the heat of the moment.

"I have to say I wasn't expecting that," Sasuke admitted grudgingly.

Harry winced as he started to ease the shuriken out of his arm. It hurt more when he pulled, but he knew it wouldn't start to feel better until it was out. "You still beat me," he stated, smiling despite the pain as he held out the other boy's weapon to return it to him, dripping a few drops of his own blood from the tip of one blade. "That's the most fun I've had in a while though. We should definitely spar again soon."

Sasuke nodded. "You're pretty good, kid. Better than most of my classmates. You can spar with me anytime." Harry couldn't help but beam in reply.

Kakashi nodded with silent approval from his perch at the edge of the field.

 _Hari really has improved if he can keep up with an Uchiha two years older than him,_ Kakashi thought as he slowly backed away, leaving the two boys to flesh out their budding friendship. _But I guess he really does need to start learning some nin-jutsu…._

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Harry awoke before dawn the next day and mused over the events that occurred the day before. He was excited about the prospect of learning more about the new children he'd met and attending the Academy with them. While it was still a little odd building friendships with kids much younger than himself, he thought they were kind and fun, and he enjoyed their company.

 _I wonder who will be the study-obsessed Hermione? Or the lazy one who has a knack for strategy like Ron?_ He smiled sadly as he remembered his two best friends before placing those memories aside to focus on the new task at hand.

Harry decided to spend the early morning attempting his wandless magic again. He could feel his magic inside, much like how he could feel his chakra thanks to Kakashi. It was there, swirling in his abdomen, but he just didn't know how to force it out of his body without it sending stabbing pain wherever he tried to focus it.

"How do I fix this? There has to be a way around this pain so I will be able to use my wandless magic again." With a determined glint, he ignored the pain and began practicing with vigor.

_If I just keep practicing, it will come back. My magic has to work again._

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After attempting his wandless magic all morning, his body started to ache. It started out as a mild annoyance, but over the rest of the day he could feel searing pain as if his blood was on fire. The moments of relative peace in between the pain grew shorter throughout the day.

The pain became worse and worse until it started to affect his movements and made training almost unbearable.

This lasted for a couple of days, with the pain getting increasingly worse much to his chagrin. He was supposed to be starting the Academy in a few days, and Kakashi definitely wouldn't let him if he wasn't able to train normally.

Kakashi, apparently noticing something was wrong, called an early end to their most recent training session and trailed after him back to the apartment.

"What's wrong?" He looked Harry up and down, searching for a reason for the boy's obvious pain. He didn't see any outward sign of injury, so he turned back to Harry and calmly waited for his explanation.

"Nothing, I guess my body just needed a break today."

"Hmm." Kakashi dropped his inquiry, but Harry could tell he didn't believe his excuse.

Harry knew he should probably tell Kakashi what was going on, but he didn't want to bother Kakashi or anyone else with this problem. Even if he did tell him, what could he say? "I'm trying to gain back my magical ability, but it's only causing me pain?" No, he would only be sent to a psychiatric hospital, and then he would never become a shinobi.

 _Maybe it will start to go away soon?_ Or at least he hoped. _Maybe if I just lay off practicing for a while, it will go back to normal._

By the next day however, Harry could barely move without grimacing. As soon as he walked out of his bedroom door, he collapsed, and Kakashi immediately rushed over to him.

"Hari! What happened?" Kakashi seemed at a loss of what was wrong, so he picked him up and headed out the door instantly. Even breathing was a struggle, with the expansion of his lungs only adding to his pain.

"I don't know what happened," he whispered carefully, wincing as he was jostled in Kakashi's arms. "It's never been this bad before. But it seems as if I can't move my body anymore."

"This has happened before?" Kakashi asked harshly. "And you didn't think to tell anyone about this?"

Harry looked down, feeling ashamed. "I didn't think it would get this bad. It usually stayed in my arm and would go away eventually. I was going to tell you if it got worse."

"Well, now it's worse, whatever it is. Let's get you to the hospital." Harry let out another hiss of pain as Kakashi turned a corner. The man's tone softened a little and he added, "Don't worry, Hari. We will figure out what it is and make this better."

Kakashi carrying him, even though he was being careful, was only amplifying Harry's pain. He started seeing stars, his vision slightly darkened with bright pinpricks of blinding light burning into his skull. He figured he wouldn't last much longer before he fainted from the pain, but at least that would give him some relief.

An airily giggle caught Harry's attention.

"Don't worry Harry. It's only the Fatae giving you back what you've lost."

A familiar blonde face peered down at him cheerily before he promptly passed out, her name on the tip of his tongue but escaping as nothing more than a sigh of breath.

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End Chapter 8

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Luna enters the picture! Next chapter will shine some light on what is wrong with Harry and a lot of questions will be answered.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


	9. Enter Luna

The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 9: Enter Luna

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Harry woke up groggy. His body felt like stone, and he tried and failed to wiggle his fingers. Thankfully, he was able to open his eyes despite the inability to move the rest of his body. He peered around the room, taking in the white walls and plain bed sheets, and for a minute, he thought he was back in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. But instead of finding Hermione sitting next to his bed with a book in hand and Ron lazing about eating his chocolate frogs, he found himself all alone.

_I will forever hate hospitals._

A nurse came in and smiled brightly when she saw Harry was awake. She looked like a regular civilian except for the calloused hands and light scarring on her forearms. It seemed even the healers saw battle at some point, regardless of working in the confines of the hospital.

She shuffled over to check his temperature and vitals. She had to physically open his mouth to put the thermometer under his tongue, much to his embarrassment. She then took out a rather large needle and for a second, Harry panicked. That was not an ordinary needle and had no business in his room. She instead took the syringe and slowly inserted the liquid into a small tube connecting the saline bag to the back of his hand.

"Don't you worry, child, you'll be fine. We have great doctors at this hospital, and they will be sure to figure out what is wrong with you." Harry tried to nod but couldn't, and the nurse gave him a sympathetic look.

"Poor dear," he heard her say as she left the room, presumably to get his doctor.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to gauge the damage to his body. He felt a small stinging sensation entering through the needle in his hand and assumed that was the medicine keeping the pain at bay. He groaned pitifully.

_Why is this happening to me?_

Whether it was from exhaustion or just the medicine taking effect, Harry slipped back into a dreamless sleep.

What seemed like only moments later, though it could have been hours for all Harry knew, he woke up to see Gai and Genma standing in the doorway.

"Hari-chan, how are you holding up?"

"Yosh! My rival told me to let you know that he has escorted the one called "Luna" to speak with our friend Ibiki-san and will be coming over here after."

Finally, he knew.

It was Luna. Luna Lovegood was his sibling.

He would have broken out into a wide grin if his mouth wasn't currently paralyzed.

Weird, wonderful Luna who always found the beauty in life and never let her love of fantastical creatures fade away. Even through the war, she kept such a positive outlook on life and influenced others to follow suit. He remembered her small funeral, burying only a picture and her precious belongings because her body was never found. How poor Neville never got over his feelings for the eccentric Ravenclaw.

 _She deserved better than that_ , he thought bitterly. _If anyone deserves a second chance, she does._

Then Harry's eyes widened with fear.

_What if she tells them something contradictory to my story? Would they do something to hurt her?_

Gai misread the fear in Harry's eyes.

"Not to worry! If she is your sister, I am sure she is filled with the same youthful fire as you are, and that will bring her to you soon! If not, I will do one thousand push-ups!"

Genma leaned in close to Harry and pet his hair soothingly.

"It'll all be fine, Harry. I know you said you don't remember her, but Kakashi said you recognized her before you passed out. Do you remember her now?" Harry tried to nod but instead grimaced in pain. Genma looked apologetic.

"Sorry, Hari-chan! I forgot you couldn't move. Uhh, okay... blink once if she is your sister." Harry blinked once, feeling rather silly communicating that way.

"Well, it will all work out soon then. And Kakashi is there and he cares about you, so I know he'll make sure she is all right. And maybe later on she can help you recover your memories."

Genma and Gai sat with him for a while, talking about nonsensical things to keep Harry calm and alleviate his worries.

But Harry couldn't help worrying about both Luna, ' _Is she going to be okay? Will she say something wrong and be taken away forever?',_ and his current state of paralysis.

_Did I do this to myself? In my desperation to have my magic back, have I put myself in a paralytic state forever? What if this is irreversible? What if… what if Kakashi and all the people I've grown to care about don't want me here anymore?_

He could feel the tears forming in his eyes and was unable to brush them away. Genma, who noticed the tears, wiped them away softly.

"It's gonna be okay, Hari," he said softly. "I promise, we are going to do everything we can to find out what's wrong and fix it."

 _They don't know anything about magic. What if this isn't something a ninja can fix?_ Despite Genma's comforting words, tears continued to slide down Harry's cheeks.

_This is all my fault. I was an idiot for not stopping when my body told me to._

… _._

… _._

… _._

_What am I going to do now?_

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A tall cheerful man with a pepper colored beard came through the door in a long white coat and thick black glasses with Harry's normal doctor, Masaki, right behind him. Genma and Gai automatically shifted to one side of the bed, leaving the other side accessible to the doctor.

"Well, if it isn't our mysterious little wolf-boy!" he said with a grin. "Masaki filled me in on your last physical and check up."

He placed his hands above Harry's torso, and they began to glow green.

"I'm just running a diagnostic right now to see what the problem is. Our first medic couldn't find anything wrong, but I am the head medic in this hospital so I am confident I'll be able to discover what is causing these symptoms."

Harry studied the head medic as he ran his glowing hands slowly across Harry's body, watching his brow slowly crease in confusion. Masaki gave Harry a reassuring smile and stood at the edge of the bed watching the other man work.

"Hmm," the medic said finally, and his hands receded back to their normal state. "Well, the good news is that there isn't anything wrong physically with your body. Bad news is, I don't know why you are in this paralytic state and in pain." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I think I have an idea. Fugioka-san!" The nice nurse from earlier hastily entered the room.

"Yes, Yakushi-san?"

"I would like for you to ask Hyuga Ko to spare a few moments to check our patient here." The girl nodded and quickly left.

"Well, Genma, Gai, could either of you explain the types of activities Hari has been doing the past week?"

About thirty minutes later, a young man with black hair and white eyes came strolling into the room. He briefly glanced at Harry before turning his attention to the head medic.

"What can I do for you, Yakushi-san?"

"I'd like for you to look at this child's chakra coils and see if there are any anomalies. He is unfortunately unable to move and in great pain, but we cannot find anything physically wrong with him." The Hyuga looked puzzled but heeded the medic's request. The man stared down at Harry and suddenly had protruding veins extending from his eyes.

After a few moments of scrutinizing Harry's chakra coils, the Hyuga's eyes returned to normal.

"Well, Hyuga-san?"

"I'm not really sure how to describe it," the Hyuga began slowly, "but it seems as though there is a second set of chakra coils settling in. It appears as if it is merging with his main chakra coils, which is likely the cause of his immobility and the pain the child is in."

"A second set? How is that possible?" Genma asked.

"I'm not sure. A kekkai-genkai of sorts?" the head medic responded. "Hyuga-san, how long do you think until the two coils will have completed this merger?"

"The length of time is hard to judge without knowing the pace of the coils fusing. I will come check on them in a few hours, and then I'll have a better idea of the duration."

After Gai and Genma thanked him profusely, the Hyuga left them, promising to return later in the day.

"Well, this is good news indeed, Hari-chan. And what an interesting discovery! I can't wait to see how this turns out." The head medic looked positively gleeful, making Harry feel uncomfortable.

"Now, we just have to wait."

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A girl, perhaps only fifteen or sixteen years old, sat in the cold metal chair, humming happily in her seat. Kakashi and the Hokage sat on the other side of the window with Ibiki, studying the girl claiming to be Harry's sister. There wasn't much of a resemblance between the two; her long, dirty blonde hair, pale gray eyes and delicate features, compared to Hari's dark hair, bright green eyes, and somewhat more angular face.

"She seems… very comfortable for being in an interrogation room," Kakashi commented. The Hokage nodded in agreement.

"Anko!" Ibiki barked out the door. She appeared instantly.

"Yes, captain?"

"I'd like for you to bring your snake in there and talk to her for a bit. See if this girl has the same snake-speaking ability as Hari. It would narrow down the possibility of them being related."

Anko entered the room with Habu across her shoulders. Luna jumped up excitedly and cried, "Oh, so you must be a friend of Harry's! It's so nice to meet you!" She shook the snake's tail vigorously, completely ignoring Anko, and then sat back down with a bright smile across her face.

"…What?" Anko stared slack jawed at the blonde in front of her in disbelief. Ibiki echoed Anko's sentiments. Yes, the girl spoke to the snake…. But not in the snake-language Hari had spoken but in Japanese.

 _The girl is not a speaker_ , Habu stated to his mistress. _But she does smell like him. They are from the same foreign place I do not know._

"So, ah, Luna right?"

"Yes, I am her. And she is me."

Anko hesitated at the odd response. "Ah, okay. So you are Hari-chan's sister?"

"Yes, Harry and I are now siblings. He came here to look for me, but I wasn't awake yet. Now I'm awake so he can find me."

"You've been asleep this whole time?" Anko asked curiously.

"Well, the Fataes called it the in-between, and I did a lot of dreaming while I was in the place they had taken me. So you could say I've been asleep for a long time." Anko stared at her incredulously.

"Who are the Fataes?"

Luna tilted her head slightly.

"The Fataes are just who they are. They let me come here finally so I could be with Harry again."

"She is telling the truth," Ibiki stated, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not sure exactly what it is that she is saying, but it is the truth.

"Poor child," the Hokage said sadly. "Look underneath the underneath. It seems as if these "Fataes" were her kidnappers and kept her confined for a long time. That must be why she was separated from her brother. It might have been a traumatic experience with them that caused our Hari to lose his memories."

Kakashi made a promise to himself to give Hari an extra long hug when he went to see him at the hospital. He never realized that the young boy's life could have been so terrible before his arrival in Konoha.

"These "Fataes" must have controlled what this Luna could do for the extent of her captivity. But why would they finally let her go after all this time?"

"That is what I intend to find out," Ibiki stated, getting up from the chair and heading into the interrogation room.

"What does your snake have to say about our guest?" Ibiki stated as soon as he entered the room.

"Habu says even though she isn't a speaker, she smells the same as Harry does."

"Hmm. So girl, why were you released from your captivity, and how long were you there for?"

"They said it was finally time I could join Harry. I'm not sure how long I was there; time flows differently than it does here." Luna flashed a huge smile. "I'm just glad I'm able to finally be Harry's sister."

"Do you mean any harm toward our village or the Hokage?"

"Of course not. You took Harry in when he was vulnerable and alone and have cared for him this whole time." Luna bowed her head. "Because of this, I have nothing but love for the Hidden Leaf Village. And because the Hokage reminds me of Headmaster Dumbledore." Ibiki wasn't sure what a Dumbledore was, but the girl's sincerity was apparent. She was no threat to the village or their leader.

 _She seems harmless_ , Ibiki thought, rubbing his chin. _But just like her brother, I'll be watching her._

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Harry woke up to Luna sitting attentively at his bedside.

"Luna!" he cried excitedly, and then gasped. He was able to speak again! He tried to move his left arm, and it slowly responded to him. His fingers and toes felt like they were on pins and needles, but he grinned regardless. He was going to be able to move again.

"Well, Harry, it's good to finally see you again. Seems the nargles have been here to keep you company." The twinkle in her eyes warmed Harry to the core. She looked exactly the same, her blonde hair filled with wild waves down her back and piercing blue-gray eyes. She only needed her radish earrings and butterbeer necklace to complete the look from her Hogwarts days. Finally a piece of his old life was here right in front of him, and he couldn't be happier.

_Wait a minute._

"Why do you look the same and not like a little kid?" Harry asked with a hint of jealousy.

"Well, the Fataes said it was because I died. I stayed exactly the same, unlike you, who skipped the Inbetween and came here alive. So that must be why you went through the side effects."

Harry wished for a moment that he had died before coming here, and then realized he wouldn't be with Kakashi if that had happened. And he probably wouldn't have been trusted to enter Konoha in the first place. There were definite benefits of coming here in a younger body.

He breathed deeply and finally decided to get some answers about his physical state.

"Why haven't I been able to use my magic except for my animagus form?" Harry blurted out, voicing his fear for the first time since he had he arrived in this world. "I've been learning how to use chakra, but it's not the same as magic. If I can't perform any spells…."

"Perhaps you couldn't perform any spells, because magic doesn't exist here. Only Cha-kr-a." She said the word slowly, as if she wasn't sure of the accuracy of her pronunciation. "All of this was explained to me, but it's all very confusing so I'll try my best."

She hummed for a moment, tilting her head slightly.

"That's probably why it caused you pain when you attempted to bring it outside your body. When you tried to bring your magic outside your body, it came in contact with the chakra in the air." She waved her hand, gesturing the air around them. Harry stared at her, still confused, so Luna attempted to explain more clearly.

"Apparently there is chakra everywhere. In the air, the plants, the people. I was told Chakra and magic are not supposed to mix, so when you tried to put magic into chakra-filled air, it must have backfired and caused you pain. You have both chakra and magic now, but they were separate.

"Maybe using magic inside your body for your animagus was okay, because it didn't come in contact with any chakra in the air?" She shrugged a shoulder.

"The Fataes said your chakra and magic would merge slowly until they became one power source, but because you have been learning chakra while attempting magic, it must have caused it to happen more suddenly."

Harry instantly felt ashamed. He should have known to stop attempting the spells over and over again. His nineteen-year-old self saw the stupidity in his actions; however, the five-year-old part of Harry wanted to be able to complete a spell so badly that he ignored sense. The outcome was ending up temporarily immobile and stuck in a hospital bed.

"So, I'm never going to be able to use magic again?"

"Of course you will be able to, Harry. Didn't you forget? You have a bloodline limit."

"My bloodline limit was never explained to me!" Harry winced. He hadn't meant to yell. It wasn't Luna's fault the Fates were so tightlipped about everything.

"Oh… well that does answer why you've been worried about this." She paused, and then gave Harry a warm smile. "Sorry, it took me so long to get here and explain things. It took a very long time for me to wake up from all those dreams. They were very interesting dreams though." She seemed to daze off for a moment, lost in her thoughts. Harry cleared his throat softly to catch her attention.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Your bloodline limit, our bloodline limit, causes your magic and chakra to merge together. This is why you haven't been able to move. It takes a while for the two coils to merge, though in my unique case, mine merged instantly."

"So, you'll help teach me how to use the bloodline once I can move again?"

"Of course," she replied softly, patting Harry on the hand delicately. "As long as you teach me how to become an animagus."

"Of course I will, Luna. But why do you want to become an animagus all of a sudden?"

"Well, it seems the Hokage thinks that transforming into an animal is an attribute of our family so it only seems appropriate if I learn. And anyways, I've always wanted to be able to fly."

"… But what if your animagus form isn't an animal that flies?"

Luna gave him a small smile before stating, "I've already died so aren't I supposed to have wings?"

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End chapter 9

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know any feedback/ideas/random comments that you have for the story, would love to hear it!


	10. Bloodlines

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 10: Bloodlines

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Harry woke up to the sun just barely peeping into his room and birds chirping enthusiastically outside his window. He flexed his arm, hardly feeling the tingle that had encompassed his body so strongly the day before. He grinned.

_Maybe I'll get out of here sooner than I thought._

He was about to call a nurse about breakfast when a visitor hurtled through the door.

Kakashi entered his room and rushed to his side, giving Harry a bone-crushing hug. Harry saw his visible eye glossy for just a moment, though Harry thought he might have imagined it, because it was gone the next time he looked. Harry was surprised at this sudden display of affection. It was the first time Kakashi had hugged him like this.

"Don't ever worry me like that again," the man whispered, still holding Harry tightly.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi," Harry said meaningfully. "Next time I think I'm hurt, I'll let you know."

Kakashi chuckled.

"You better." He released Harry and straightened his jacket, seemingly embarrassed.

"Sorry I'm late. The medics have told me you are inheriting your bloodline limit, which is what caused all of these problems." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Do you know what it is?"

"Luna has mentioned a few things to me, but I'm not entirely sure what the bloodline actually entails. She said she would go over it with me when I'm back at home."

Kakashi twitched slightly at the word home. Harry noticed and suddenly realized what it meant. His stomach dropped when he thought about not living with Kakashi as his guardian. He didn't want it to end, not just yet.

"Kakashi." Harry grabbed his arm. "I, I don't want to stop living with you. I mean, if that's okay with you. You are family now."

"Well," Kakashi scratched his chin thoughtfully, but Harry could see the grin he hid underneath his mask, "there is a vacant apartment two doors down from mine. Do you think your sister would be okay with you living apart from her? I don't want to cause problems between you two."

"I'll ask her, but I'm sure she would be fine with that." Harry answered thoughtfully.

Kakashi patted Harry's head fondly and ruffled his hair, causing it to stick up like his own.

"Anyways," Harry continued as he tried to smooth his hair back down, " I don't even know what she plans to do yet once she settles in. I'm not sure if she's ever had a job before."

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"So you're really okay with living in an apartment by yourself?" Harry asked Luna for the third time. She had come to visit him that afternoon and surprised him with a generously sized bag of sweets, though Harry had no idea where they came from.

"Of course, Harry. I'm here to be your sister and your supporter, but I'm also your friend. I don't want to separate the bond you've formed with Kakashi."

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but she interrupted. "And this works out for me, as well. I've always really liked my privacy. It gives me more time to study creatures that have yet to be discovered. I mean, just think of how many Wrakspurt and Nargle-like creatures are living in this country right now, just waiting to be revealed!"

Harry reached over and pulled Luna in for a hug.

"Don't ever change," he stated softly, squeezing her for a moment before leaning back in the hospital bed.

"So what are you planning to do once you settle in?" Harry asked curiously. He had been thinking about what Luna would want to do since she had arrived, but he hadn't been able to come up with an answer. He could never understand her thought processes, so she never failed to surprise.

"I have very little chakra since I was already past maturity when I arrived here, so being a ninja is not an option. I don't think I could be a ninja, anyway. After the war, I don't think I want to fight anymore." Luna gave a sad smile before looking out the window. Harry noticed her eyes turn glossy; the nightmares of the past war being replayed like a screen before her, and he shivered, because those same nightmares had been plaguing him, as well.

She shook her head abruptly before clearing her throat.

"I'd like to find a peaceful job here so I can enjoy this chance at life that the Fata have given me, and also look after you. I know how you always find yourself in the center of trouble. I'll need an army of Opalspoors just to keep an eye on you."

"It's not my fault," Harry grumbled. He was glad that Luna was deciding not to pursue a ninja career. He didn't think he could bear it if something happened to her again. "And what are Opalspoors?"

"They are rocks with the ability to watch over people who attract trouble. They use telepathy to keep constant communication between themselves and notify the observer about the person under surveillance." Luna tilted her head thoughtfully. "They are also very good at watching over babies while they sleep."

"Yes, I'm sure those would be useful." Harry cleared his throat. "I bet you will find a great job here. I'll ask around and see what is available."

"Oh no, you don't have to do that Harry. I'm sure something will present itself to me soon enough."

At that moment, Harry's therapist Yamanaka Naoji walked in.

"Hi Hari-chan, how are you feeling?" He greeted Harry with a smile and then looked at Luna. "My apologies, I do not believe we have met. My name is Yamanaka Naoji."

He bowed slightly toward her.

"Hello, my name's Luna, nice to meet you." She nodded her head as well, mimicking the man's movement.

"Yamanaka-san, this is my sister Luna. And I'm doing much better, thank you for checking on me."

Harry saw that Naoji was not surprised by the news.

"Luna-san, it is wonderful to meet you. You must be happy to finally be back with your brother." He smiled towards her, and Harry wondered if Naoji was evaluating her as well.

"Oh yes, it is wonderful. You could say he is the only reason I'm here in this world."

Harry wondered at her choice of words. Was there a deeper meaning there?

"Well, I do not want to intrude on your reconnection after all this time. I'm relieved you are doing better Hari, and I look forward to our chats when you recover." He stood up and started making his way to the door. As he stood in the doorway, he looked over at Luna.

"Luna-san, I hope you and I are able to sit down and connect soon as well. Have a good rest of your day."

After he left, Luna turned to Harry with a curious look.

"That is my therapist," Harry answered. "He's a good guy. I think he wanted to make sure that I was okay with you coming back." Luna placed her hand on Harry's.

"There are so many people here who care about you." She laid her head on his bed and closed her eyes. "I couldn't have asked for anything better."

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Harry had quite a few visitors the next day at the hospital. Shikamaru and Chouji brought Naruto with them to visit as soon as they were allowed.

Harry was trying to stomach the bland toast and jam the hospital had given him for breakfast, so their visit was a most welcome distraction. Chouji had thought to ask his Mom to cook him a delicious breakfast filled with nutrients to "help him recover quickly", so this made their visit all the more exciting. All Harry could tell was that the food smelled incredible and made his mouth water, so his hospital food was tossed happily out the window by an enthusiastic Naruto.

 _All three of them are very kind_ , Harry thought happily, watching them chatter about their days at the Academy and how excited they were for him to join. Even at such a young age, they all possessed such caring dispositions. Harry was lucky to have developed budding friendships with these boys.

It was a brief visit before the nurses rushed them out, though Harry didn't understand why. He had a sinking feeling it had to do with Naruto being there.

Even Raido came to visit, though Harry assumed the reason was to get a good look at Luna and flirt with the nurses. It was a nice gesture, though his perceived intentions were less than pure. He had looked a little disappointed after seeing Harry's room without a certain blonde visitor but cheered up considerably when he saw the pretty nurse who came in to check Harry's vitals one last time. He ruffled Harry's hair and winked before following the nurse out the door.

 _Why do all of the ninja want to ruffle my hair_ , Harry thought, soothing his hair out for the third time that day. _Even though they don't know it, I'm only a few years younger than them!_

He had to convince himself that he definitely wasn't pouting.

Harry spent his lunch gazing out the window, eating the last remnants of Chouji's wonderful food and wishing he were out of the hospital to start practicing his magic again. He had promised Kakashi he wouldn't start training his bloodline until he was fully recovered, but his boredom and anticipation was making it very difficult to keep his word.

Kakashi swept in for a brief moment to tell him that he and Genma were helping Luna move into the vacant apartment on their floor. Harry's heart swelled at the thought of having all the people he cared about living under the same roof. It was almost like the Hogwarts dormitory again. His thoughts wandered to his old dormitory, with the wonderful people he would never see again. Ron and Hermione's faces flashed very vividly in his mind, and it took everything he had not to burst into tears.

_At least I have Luna here now._

Later that afternoon, Harry had more surprise visitors. Sasuke came in nervously, clutching his older brother's hand.

"Hi Hari," he said softly. He glanced up at his brother and was nudged closer to the bed. He held out a bento.

"I made this for you so you can get better soon," he said shyly, his cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. Harry grasped the bento tenderly while beaming at the boy in front of him.

"Thanks, Sasuke, it's perfect. The food here is terrible, so this will be a great dinner!" He set the bento on the side of the bed and reached over to give Sasuke a brief hug, which the boy grudgingly accepted. Sasuke leaned back immediately, straightening his shirt and Harry couldn't help but grin. He was such a cute little kid.

"So, who is this with you?" Harry asked, peering over at an older but eerily similar version of Sasuke.

"This is my nii-san, Itachi. He's already a chunnin," Sasuke said, puffing up his chest proudly.

Harry studied Itachi. While on the surface he looked like a normal boy, Itachi's eyes reflected a pain that Harry himself knew all too well: eyes that had seen too much battle and bloodshed. Beyond that, Harry sensed an overwhelming power radiating softly from him.

"It's nice to finally meet the young boy who has caught my otouto's attention," Itachi remarked, causing Sasuke to turn red again.

"Nii-san!"

"It's very nice to meet you Itachi-san. I'm sorry it wasn't under more pleasant circumstances." Harry gestured at his hospital room.

"How did you end up in the hospital?" Itachi inquired.

"Well, it seems I've come into my bloodline, and I was a bit of an idiot trying to use it before my body was ready. But I'm perfectly fine now!"

"What kind of bloodline is it?" Sasuke asked eagerly.

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but my sister arrived at the village just in time and is going to help me learn how to use it."

"When will you be able to leave?" Sasuke asked.

"Tomorrow morning, hopefully," Harry replied. "I'm more than ready to be out of the hospital and for everything to be back to normal!"

"Things will be anything but normal," Itachi commented lightly, and Harry felt a chill as if Itachi was referring to something he had not yet been informed of.

They left soon after, Itachi stating they needed to return home for dinner. Harry pushed the comment to the back of his mind. Even if it had been weird, Itachi was still just a kid; there couldn't be any hidden meaning behind it, could there?

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"I'm free!" Harry exclaimed as he stepped out of the building. He truly felt like a kid stepping out from a long day cooped up inside. He seriously considered breaking into a dance.

Ah, the joys of childhood.

Kakashi gave him a tap on his head but couldn't hide his amusement.

"Luna, Genma, and Gai have been up all morning making you a surprise welcome home breakfast. Act surprised," he said lightly.

Harry grinned happily at the thought of all these wonderful people he now called family taking the time to do something special for him. He glanced over at Kakashi. He was also grateful for the older man telling him about it beforehand. He didn't like surprises too much. Not anymore.

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Harry enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with a mixture of local food and food he remembered from Hogwarts. It brought back wonderful memories of mornings surrounded by his best friends, chatting about their classes for the day. It was bittersweet, but Harry was thankful nonetheless.

Luna began cleaning the dishes, and Genma jumped up to help her out. Harry started stacking plates before he was ushered quickly out of the room and told he wasn't allowed to help. Harry sat helplessly next to Kakashi and Gai as they watched the two clean the table.

Genma was exceedingly helpful, even ushering Luna away from the stacks of dishes in the sink, stating he could take care of the rest. Luna walked passed Harry with a dazed expression, and he heard her say, "Yes, he will do nicely." He shook his head, deciding to not try understanding Luna's peculiar comments.

"So, my youthful friend, I am very happy to see you back at home!" Gai announced gleefully, patting Harry on the back, "and this means that we can also continue your training!"

"Gai, Hari needs to be careful using his chakra for now. He'll have to learn the basics of his bloodline before it will be safe for him to continue that kind of training." Kakashi interjected. He cast a worried look at Harry. Apparently not everyone believed he was completely healed.

"Ah, but the training of the body will not be hindered by this! I shall train you to be the fastest Academy student, or I will walk on my hands for a week!" Gai stood up dramatically and struck a pose that seemed to radiate light. Harry felt fear creeping into his skin as he thought of what awaited him in these training sessions.

Luna came waltzing into the conversation, seemingly out of nowhere.

"First, he will learn the fine art of our bloodline. Though, I'm sure he will catch on quickly," Luna said, giving Harry a knowing grin. "No one can keep The Chosen One from doing what he wants to do."

Harry ignored the ninja's confused expressions and turned the subject to something entirely different.

"So I met an interesting ninja yesterday. He's my friend Sasuke's older brother…."

:::::

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"So, Harry, how does it feel?"

Harry arrived early the next morning at Luna's apartment to start practicing his magic once again. He could barely contain his excitement. They both decided to start his magic training safely inside Luna's new apartment, away from prying eyes until he achieved a certain amount of control. Itachi's ominous warning still rang uneasily in his mind.

It took a few minutes to call out his magic, but like riding a bike, it came back to him very quickly. It vibrated like an excited child who had been cooped up and was ready to burst outside to play.

Harry didn't respond, instead he increased the light coming from his palm and slowly levitated it to the ceiling. A sense of happiness, relief, and familiarity all flooded him at once as his magic cajoled him to practice some more. He cracked a smile and let out a bark of laughter, as if the magic itself was casting a tickling charm.

"Now, charms are going to be the easiest. Starting at the beginning might be annoying, but at least there won't be any winged keys attacking you this time." Luna said calmly.

"How'd you know about…?"

"Transfiguration will be the most difficult, and you should probably not attempt that until you have other subjects relearned."

Harry nodded and glanced over at Luna. She was lying backwards, dangling off the couch and fiddling with a string and a pebble while humming an unfamiliar tune.

"What are you doing?"

"Setting a trap."

Harry stared at her expectantly, but seeing that she wasn't going to elaborate, he turned around to continue his practice.

"Okay, now let's try another one," Harry muttered, and began locking and unlocking Luna's apartment door.

::::

::::

::::

"I need answers, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded in agreement but remained silent. He sat in front of the Hokage's desk for the third time that week, all for the same reason: Hari.

"Hari and his sister are under scrutiny by some very powerful people. They are already starting to pry, and I need to know the extent of this bloodline limit in order to protect them. There are some who would love to use a boy like Hari for the sake of the village."

Kakashi looked at the Hokage with disbelief.

"But they don't even know what the bloodline is. How is it they are already being noticed?"

The Hokage pulled out his pipe, placed the tip to his mouth, and lit it. The smell of smoke always seemed to calm him. Small circles of smoke drifted lazily up to the ceiling.

"I think the interest stems from the unknown qualities this bloodline may carry. If the child can already speak to snakes and transform his body into an animal, what will this second set of power in his body be able to do? People have been speculating, and it seems they believe it will be something worthwhile."

"Sir, what happens if this bloodline is as powerful as you believe?"

"Then, my dear boy, you will need to train him to be the strongest shinobi possible and take care of him to the best of your ability. Help him to find allies in the village so he will have support when he needs it most. Hari and his sister will need all the help they can get."

Kakashi stood up and bowed. As he approached the door, he turned to give a final statement before swiftly departing. "I will protect him. I will do whatever it takes."

Kakashi could feel the Hokage's smile for a long time afterward.

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End Chapter 10

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	11. The Academy

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 11: The Academy

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Starting school in the middle of April was an uncommon occurrence, but the Hokage assured Harry that he would be fine. He dutifully filled out the appropriate paperwork the night before he was set to start, but one question made him frown.

He made his excuses to Kakashi and headed down the hall to visit Luna, because his sister "knew" their last name. Luna blinked at him with a puzzled expression when he explained his dilemma.

"I thought we should use the last name of the man who gave us his bloodline so we would have ties to this world," he explained slowly, "but I don't know what his name is."

"There aren't any nargles here to tell me who our benefactor is unfortunately, so we are going to have to figure out that information on our own," Luna replied. "For now, you still need a last name so you can attend school."

Harry sighed, "I guess we can try to do some research later on. It would be nice to know who this man really is, even if we can't use his name for now. Did you want to use your last name for now…?"

The girl smiled. "Lovegood Harry," she said, "That's a funny name. No, Harry, I think we should stick with yours."

Harry couldn't help but grin, imagining his guardian struggling over the name "Lovegood." He nodded, "You're right, Potter will be easier." Leaning over the paperwork, he carefully filled in his own surname.

"You'd better get some rest now," Luna advised him, when he finished, "If you don't, the poxiduds are likely to cling to you all day tomorrow, and you'll be sluggish and tired on your first day."

Eventually, Kakashi dragged him back to their apartment to get to bed, and Harry's young body betrayed him, falling quickly to sleep with dreams of the Konoha Ninja Academy captivating him until the morning.

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A huge grin was plastered on his face as he headed to the Academy, and no amount of teasing from his friends could lessen it. Chouji and Shikamaru walked alongside him, amplifying Harry's joy on this momentous occasion. Kakashi strolled leisurely behind the trio, his nose buried in his beloved orange novel.

What amazing things would he learn on his first day? Harry couldn't fathom the knowledge that would come from a shinobi school. Sure, he was taking lessons from Kakashi, Gai, and Genma, but those were unorthodox. This would be structured learning, just like Hogwarts, with teachers, a syllabus, and a classroom full of kids wanting to learn. He wasn't sure how it would be socializing with the other children, but he'd done well with the few kids he'd met so far.

"My mom packed a lunch for all of us, so come find us during your break," Chouji said excitedly through a mouthful of chips.

"That sounds great, Chouji. Thanks!" Harry replied, throwing his larger friend a smile.

"School is boring. And we still have four more years left until graduation," Shikamaru grumbled.

"Not me! I'm going to be just like Kakashi and graduate in a year." Harry turned to see Kakashi nod at him approvingly.

"I remember you mentioning that before. With all the training you've done, I'll be surprised if you don't graduate early." Shikamaru placed his hands behind his head and sighed. "All that hard work would be too troublesome."

Kakashi pulled him aside as they arrived outside the Academy, allowing Shikamaru and Chouji to wave goodbye and enter by themselves.

"Now, I know this is your first day and that you are very excited, but take this just in case." Kakashi handed him a large book called " _Stealth and Strategy_."

"In case what?" Harry asked with confusion.

Kakashi replied with an enigmatic, "You'll see," before giving him a quick pat on the head and ushering him inside.

It turned out Kakashi was right.

The Academy started out just fine. Harry entered the room slowly, his childish nerves creeping through him. The classroom had about a dozen students, all about two years older than him, already inside chatting and laughing. He slid into a chair toward the back silently, deciding to observe the students rather than join in for now.

"Hey, there's a new kid," one of the girls said, pointing and giggling softly to her friend.

"Aw, for being so little, he's kinda cute," the friend replied, and that started another reaction of giggles from the two girls.

 _Please, please, don't let there be any fan girls here_ , Harry thought, his mind wandering back to his Triwizard Tournament days, and shuddered.

Finally, the last of the students came wandering in, along with their chuunin instructor.

"Good morning class. Whoever didn't do their homework will be running extra laps after school." A few of the kids groaned, while the others handed their papers in diligently.

"We have a new student today. Hari?" He gestured for him to stand, which Harry promptly did.

"This is Potteru Hari, who will be joining our class. Hari, I am Fujioka Koh. Now class, Hari is only five, but he has been training under Hatake Kakashi so he should be able to fit into our class easily. I have very high expectations for you." Harry nodded, but felt uneasy as a few of the students turned to glare at him.

Harry's new sensei then began a lecture on Shinobi rule number 12: "A shinobi must be able to blend in to their surroundings." After the first five minutes, Harry had a strong urge to bang his head against the table. How the man could take a simple shinobi rule and expand it to an entire lecture was beyond him.

Genma taught him all the shinobi rules within a few days, and even turned the lectures into exciting days of putting each rule into practice and annoying Kakashi at the same time. The lesson about shinobi blending into their surroundings started out with them being hunted down by Kakashi's nin-dogs. Genma and Harry were both found much later in a mud pit, where the dogs happily joined in. Genma pulled Kakashi into the pit as well, and the nin-dogs joyously attacked him with mud-covered kisses. Their summoner was not impressed.

He grinned to himself as he thought about those lessons before his attention turned back to the boring lecture at hand. His eyes rested on the very thoughtful gift Kakashi had handed to him that morning.

He pulled " _Stealth and Strategy_ " from under his desk and began to read the first chapter, _How to Cover Your Tracks_. He was deeply engrossed in a chapter about hiding your scent when the sensei said his name loudly.

"Er, sorry, Sensei, can you repeat that?" Harry asked, causing a few of his classmates to snicker.

"I said, since this lecture doesn't seem to interest you, could you explain to me how you would blend into your surroundings?"

Harry wanted to roll his eyes. If the teacher was trying to call him out and embarrass him, he was in for a surprise.

"Well, since I haven't learned any jutsu that would help me blend in, I'd use the surrounding foliage, especially since there are a lot of options in the Land of Fire. And I guess I would use a breathing technique to quiet the sounds of my breath and stay completely still." He paused, tilting his head pretending to be deep in thought.

"Even then, at my level I'm not able to hide my chakra or my scent, so if the person searching for me was chuunin level or above I'd be found regardless. I'd make sure to wear dark colored clothing and even use mud to allow me to blend in to my surroundings - it would depend on how deep in the forest we are, the weather, and the time of day. Being outside a forest would be much more difficult, and I haven't learned or have the experience to hide out there successfully just yet."

"Very good," Fujioka-sensei said reluctantly. "I assume you've already been familiarized with the Shinobi Rules, then?" Harry nodded, glad the sensei caught on, and ignored the murmurings of his classmates.

"I see. Well then, carry on with your reading, and try not to be disruptive while I finish this lecture." Harry nodded again and buried his nose back into the book, interested to see how he could find a way to hide his scent.

After two hours of lecture, the class went outside for target practice. Harry excitedly bounded outside, prepared to finally learn something new. They were all handed shuriken that upon further inspection turned out to be quite dull.

"Now class, aim towards the targets. Let's see if anyone is able to land three hits in a row."

So Harry stood back and watched, unimpressed as childproof shuriken were thrown haphazardly across the grounds. He quickly became very thankful for their dullness, considering how many times he was accidentally hit by stray weapons. He was growing increasingly annoyed by the lack of skills these children had, and also for the lack of challenge he was faced with.

He stared at the fake shuriken in his hand, wondering what he was doing there. This was not how he imagined the Academy to be like at all. He wanted to be challenged, not babied.

::::::

While Harry struggled through his first week, Luna was on a mission. She finally spotted her final destination, a flower shop, and walked in. She was looking for two specific ingredients, ginseng and ambrosia, which were essential for the animagus potion and the last items she needed.

The potion was simple enough to make. When imbued with the person's own magic, the potion lead the drinker into a meditative state where they are able to find their animal form. Once the form is revealed, the real studying begins.

"Hello there, how can I help you?" a pretty blonde lady asked her kindly.

"I'm looking for ginseng and ambrosia," Luna replied while taking in the beauty of the flowers surrounding the inside of the shop.

"Hmm, unusual order, but yes I think we have those in the back garden. One moment please." As the woman left the room, Luna continued her observation of the different plants.

Beautiful roses, irises, and hydrangeas filled the front of the shop with a wonderful melody of colors and fragrances. Lavender, tulips, lotus, and azaleas were others she recognized, nestled cheerfully among plants and flowers whose names she couldn't recall. She also spotted her favorite flower, the sunflower, off in a corner.

"Not as exciting as the plants in Greenhouse Three, but still. This is acceptable," she whispered to no one in particular. She couldn't help but grab a small bouquet of sunflowers to add to her purchase.

"Here you are my dear!" the woman said with a smile, after returning from the back room. She handed her a small package.

"Oh, and some sunflowers as well? An excellent choice. My name is Yamanaka Hanako, by the way."

"It's a pleasure, Yamanaka Hanako. My name is Potter Luna." Luna took the package and held out her other hand. Hanako shook her hand, grinning. "My husband Naoji mentioned meeting you. You're Hari-chan's older sister, right?" Luna nodded.

"Anything else I can help you with today, Potteru-san?" Luna smiled sweetly.

"Actually yes, there is something else."

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Harry went to the Academy instructors' office after his first week at the academy ended, as his sensei instructed. It had been a week of absolute boredom, and the only part of the day he enjoyed was lunch time with his friends. At least they didn't look at him with envy every time he was able to answer a question correctly.

"Ah, so you must be little Potteru-kun," a young woman with cropped purple hair said as he entered the room.

"That's me." Harry delicately chose to ignore the "little" comment.

"So, it appears your sensei has requested you to be advanced to a more experienced class," she stated, looking at the report in front of her.

Harry was elated.

"Yes, please! I'll do anything!"

"Hmm." She stared at him for a moment, before handing him a small stack of papers. "Here are a few questions I want you to answer to see where to place you. The test will become more difficult as you go, so once you get to a point where you can't answer them anymore, let me know." She tapped the papers with a finger.

"Also, I'm not going to give you a physical test. If you decide to move to a higher class and can't keep up, that's all on you."

Harry grinned and started immediately on the test in front of him. Thirty minutes later, he turned in the papers to the surprised chuunin.

She cleared her throat before saying, "Come into the office in the morning so I can send you to your new classroom."

"Yes ma'am!" Harry replied happily before practically skipping out of the office.

"Cheeky brat," the chuunin grumbled to herself before starting to grade the papers in front of her.

:::::

He walked out of the building only to run right into Sasuke.

"Hello."

"Hey Sasuke, are you waiting on someone?"

"Well, I was waiting on Nii-san to pick me up, but it seems something has come up again." Sasuke tried to hide his disappointment by changing the subject.

"How was your first week at the Academy, Hari?"

"Very boring," Harry said with a sigh. Sasuke patted Harry consolingly on the back.

"I remember how slow the first year was. It gets better in the more advanced classes."

"Yeah, I'm hoping so! Oh, no, that reminds me, I have training with Kakashi now. He's gonna kill me if I'm late." Harry was about to take off running before thinking of a great idea. "You should come and train with me! Kakashi mentioned he wanted to meet you anyways so this is perfect."

Sasuke hesitated for a brief second before nodding.

"That would be acceptable," he said, trying to hide a smile that tugged on his lips.

:::::

"Hmm." Kakashi put a hand on his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the two boys. Sasuke fidgeted nervously under the scrutiny while Harry just grinned.

"Since there are two of you today, how about a spar?" Kakashi suggested, noticing the gleam in their eyes as the two boys agreed eagerly. "But this won't be a normal spar. You two will be working together. The objective of this spar is for one of you to land a hit on me."

"What are the restrictions?" Harry asked, as Sasuke looked at him warily.

"Taijutsu only for now," Kakashi answered. "Depending on the outcome of this spar, I will be deciding whether your taijutsu is at a sufficient level to begin ninjutsu training or not." Harry's eyes lit up.

"Come with me when the spar begins," he whispered to Sasuke. Kakashi watched with a hidden grin at the two conversing in hushed tones.

"If you are ready," Kakashi announced, "then let's begin." Harry rushed into the woods to the left with Sasuke dutifully following.

"So they are going to plan an attack." Kakashi observed approvingly as the two disappearing into the forest. "This should be interesting."

Sasuke pulled at Harry's sleeve when they had gone far enough into the woods.

"Why do we have to work together just to land a hit? That should be easy."

"Kakashi is a Jounin, Sasuke. He is tougher than he looks. Which is why we need to make a plan if we want to win." Sasuke looked skeptical, but nodded for Harry to continue.

"Since we both are about the same level, you should probably be the one to attempt the hit since you are taller and have a longer reach." Harry crouched down, closing his eyes in thought.

"So this means I'll be the distraction."

He snapped his eyes open. "Here's what I think we should do…."

:::::

Both boys burst out of the trees at the same time, charging their target. Harry went for the left side, as Sasuke took the right. Their synchronized attacks forced Kakashi to jump out of the way, albeit rather lazily.

"I'll get you this time, Kakashi!" Harry yelled, charging once more. He swung his fist towards Kakashi's chest and then planted his hands on the ground, sweeping his legs low, trying to catch one of Kakashi's legs with his own. Sasuke fell into his own taijutsu style, following a jab with a cross with an uppercut and failing to connect with any of them.

Kakashi merely dodged the swings, not even making an attempt to fight back. Harry growled, circling his target to give himself a second to catch his breath before launching another attack at the man's back. Kakashi caught his fist and used the momentum to toss him over his shoulder, forcing Sasuke to dodge to one side.

"Sasuke, just stop! You aren't helping at all! I can do this without you!" Harry shouted in frustration.

The announcement startled Harry's guardian. _When did Hari get so cold?_

Sasuke shot him an angry look. "Humph. Fine! I'll just watch you fail then!"

Sasuke pulled back for a moment, looking angry. Harry continued to circle and try to find an opening. He threw a punch at the man's blind side, followed a jab up with a roundhouse, and then launched himself into a flying sidekick behind the man's back. Kakashi blocked or dodged everything he threw at him with a bored expression, and Harry displayed an increasing frustration with each failure.

"Hari, you must remember that teamwork is very important when fighting a stronger opponent," Kakashi chided softly.

"I know, I know, but I want to be the one to land the hit, not him! I don't want any help!" Harry rushed at him again, but this time he leapt over Kakashi, dropping smoke bombs on his way down. He twisted in midair, flinging himself into a butterfly kick. Kakashi instinctively jumped away from his charge to avoid the attacks heading his way. A second too late he realized another attack was coming from the other direction. Sasuke's fist barely clipped his clothing as he twisted to avoid the hit. He landed with a skid and saw two grinning boys through the dissipating smoke.

"Great job Sasuke!" Harry said ecstatically. "You did it perfectly!"

"Hn, I only got fabric though," Sasuke replied, his modesty unable to hide a proud smirk.

Kakashi stood and rubbed his head thoughtfully.

"That was a good plan boys. Make your opponent think you are disagreeing and use it to your advantage." He patted both the boys on the head.

"It wouldn't have been so easy if I had actively attacked, but for academy students using only taijutsu, that was very good. Your taijutsu still needs some work, but I think you are proficient enough to begin ninjutsu training."

"Yes!" Harry jumped on Kakashi excitedly before doing the same to a surprised Sasuke. "Thanks for your help Sasuke! I couldn't have done this without you!"

"If you'd like to join his afternoon trainings, you are more than welcome," Kakashi stated casually. "It would be good for Hari to have a sparring partner closer to his age."

Sasuke's genuine smile was answer enough.

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Harry walked into the Academy to find out what the verdict was for his class change. The purple haired chuunin was again sitting at the desk.

"Hello again, shrimp," the chuunin said. Harry bristled but nodded his head respectfully.

"Well, it seems that you scored high enough to join a more experienced class." Harry grinned. "But don't blame me if you can't play with the big boys," she added pointedly. "I still think putting such a small kid into this class is a bad idea."

"I'll do my best," Harry stated firmly.

Her features were doubtful as she handed him a paper with his new class assignment. "Room 6 is where your new class is located. Don't be late."

"Thanks!" Harry grinned and took off, excited that finally, he might be on his way to following his guardian's footsteps.

_Kakashi, I won't let you down!_

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End Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luna's animagus is coming up soon. Thanks for reading!


	12. Academy Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note for pairings:
> 
> Harry has no pairing right now, and I don't have a definite plan for him as of yet. There are definitely going to be pairings (some showing up pretty soon!) but Harry will not be one of them. 
> 
> If you have any ideas for Harry, I'd love to hear them!!
> 
> -EmLights

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 12: Academy Issues

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Harry entered the room with bated breath. The sensei nodded expectantly toward him, but the much older kids in the room stared at him with confusion. His small hope of joining his friends' class dwindled with unfamiliar faces surrounding him. The class seemed to be the ages of ten or eleven so his small stature stood out like a sore thumb.

Without missing a beat, he strode into the room confidently and took an empty seat in the front row next to a boy whose face was half hidden with a high collar and glasses. He determinedly kept his face forwards so he didn't see the annoying antics of the older students.

"This is Potteru Hari. It seems his test scores placed him in the top class; although," the sensei peered over him derisively, "we'll just have to see how he fares with the other aspects of the class." A few sniggers were heard in the back of the room, but Harry did not give them the satisfaction of a response.

"I am Tanaka Aito. Do not disappoint me." And with that, Aito Sensei continued his lecture.

The lecture on chakra was simple but interesting. Harry loved hearing different explanations of chakra; it was remarkable to compare them alongside his own experiences with magic. Although they were both contained inside the body, chakra was pulled through hand signs or seals, whereas magic was channeled with a wand or, in more advanced ways, through a person's hands. With both, the way of casting was determined through the intent and the will of the caster.

"Alright class, I want us to practice our illusionary clones." The entire class stood up to stand in line in front of their sensei. Harry found himself on the very edge, barely able to see the teacher from behind an unnaturally large student.

"Let's go over the hand signs for Bunshin No Jutsu in case our new student does not know or if any of you have forgotten. Remember; Ram, Snake, Tiger," Aito sensei stated as he went through the hand signs. Harry, who had not tried this technique before, dutifully copied his new sensei and practiced a few more times to have it down. The rather brawny student in front of him gave an exaggerated yawn and snuck a peak at Harry.

"This is easy stuff sensei! If the shrimp still needs to learn this, he should go to a lower class." The boy grinned at the few laughs his comment generated.

"Well Taichi, since you find this so elementary, why don't you demonstrate your bunshin first?"

"Tsk, fine," the boy called Taichi said as he swaggered in front of the class. He flew through the hand signs quickly.

"Bunshin No Jutsu!" he yelled, and a replica of himself appeared right beside him.

"Very good," Aito Sensei stated dully. "Now class, line up - each of you will try the jutsu."

One by one, the class attempted the jutsu. Most were able to create a successful clone of his or herself, whereas a couple had a few imperfections. One plain looking civilian with flat, red hair was unable to make even a vague form of a clone. Her face turned as red as her hair as the other girls in the class pointed and giggled behind their hands.

Harry felt bad for the girl but was too nervous about his own performance of the clone jutsu to dwell on it just then. The redhead looked close to tears but held it in as the next student took her place.

Then suddenly it was Harry's turn.

He quickly went over everything he knew about the clone jutsu in his head as he stood before his new sensei. _Visualize your body, your hair, your height. Notice every detail, every imperfection. Every physical trait you possess should be reflected in the clone._ His readings made it seem simple enough, but without the familiarity with his own chakra, Harry wasn't so sure.

He made the correct hand signs, as he channeled his chakra like he had practiced with his chakra exercises. He let it flow as he would his own magic while casting a spell. "Bunshin No Jutsu!" he called out, his eyes shut tight, as he visualized himself as best he could.

Laughter erupted in the classroom as he opened his eyes the peek over at his clone. Though some of his facial features were a little blurry, the clone in question had the same hair, skin, and even his scar on the forehead. The problem was the clone stood two feet taller with much broader shoulders than his own miniature body. He had tried to make a clone of his old self.

"Little shrimp wants to be taller then, huh?" The boy named Taichi barked out, and even the sensei chuckled before clearing his throat.

"So it seems some of us need to be a bit more aware of what their actual bodies look like before attempting this again." Harry flushed in anger and embarrassment. The anger was mostly directed at himself for allowing his mind to visualize glimpses of his past instead of his present self.

He moved out of the way for the next student, ignoring the jeers from Taichi. All his hard work and dedication faded into the background as he made himself look ridiculous after only a few hours in his new classroom.

 _This can never happen again_ , he thought firmly. _To make everyone take me seriously as a shinobi, I'll just have to rise to the top and force everyone to see me as a capable ninja regardless of my size._

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Harry sat on the couch in Luna's apartment meditating. Luna suggested they continue practicing Occlumency, even if the chance of it being effective against any jutsu was slim. He saw the logic in her suggestion but also had his own reasons for wanting to meditate. Harry was starting to feel blank spots in his memory. He knew the fates had said he would lose some of his past memories briefly, but he did not like the feeling of missing something important - even if the loss is only temporary.

He did not mention anything to Luna; she didn't need to worry about his memory loss just yet.

Regardless of his reasons, meditating was also a way for Harry to clear his mind, and after his ruinous day, he needed it.

Luna was also meditating, though her way of meditation consisted of her doing headstands and humming a song eerily similar to God Save the Queen.

Harry, frustrated and unable to fall into a meditative state, opened his eyes and sighed heavily. As if on queue, Luna righted herself and stretched like she was waking up from a great nap.

"So where did Kakashi head off to this time?" Luna asked as she continued to stretch, now shifting into different poses.

"I think he is somewhere in Suna with Genma. They had to deliver a message, but that was all he was allowed to say. I think they'll be back sometime next week."

They had decided whenever Kakashi went out on a mission, Harry would stay with Luna. This set up worked out well, because it gave them ample time to practice spells in the comfort of Luna's living room. Harry was still trying to figure out how to work magic into his fighting without making himself a huge target. His control over magic was slowly increasing, and he was able to perform most spells from first through third year with ease.

"Tomorrow Gai gave me the day off from training after the Academy, so we can start brewing the potion and find out your animagus then."

Gai was in charge of Harry's training sessions with Kakashi gone, and with Luna's recent appearance, he decided to give Harry the day off to have 'youthful family time with his sister'. And since having an animal transformation was taken as part of their bloodline, they were both very eager to start Luna's training.

Harry was startled to see Luna shake her head. "But I thought you found all the ingredients?"

"I did, but I won't be available tomorrow." Harry waited for her to elaborate, but when she gave no indication, he asked, "What is going on tomorrow?"

"I'll be starting my first day at work," she answered, before sighing dreamily. "It's no fanged geranium or mimbulus mimbletonia, but I'm sure I'll be able to find some plants that are interesting enough."

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Harry struggled through the rest of the week at the Academy. It seemed that Taichi was even more of a bully than Dudley and found Harry as the perfect victim. It wasn't as embarrassing as Harry Hunting, but Harry was very thankful when Kakashi came home.

"Kakashi, I need you to bump up my training!" Harry cried as soon as he walked into Luna's apartment.

"Hello Kakashi, how was your trip?" Luna said as she hummed over the stove.

"It went smoothly. Only one run in with missing nin, but they were easily taken care of." Kakashi sat on the couch next to his charge and peered over at him.

"And what happened that is making you want to increase your training?"

"Because…." Harry trailed off, embarrassed. He didn't want Kakashi to be displeased with him. A nudged elbow made him continue.

"I messed up with the Bunshin No Jutsu during my first day with the new class," Harry admitted. "My clone was too tall and now I'm getting made fun of even more for being so little, and no one in the class takes me seriously."

Kakashi just stared at him for a moment.

"Was there anything else wrong with your clone other than the height?"

Harry, who was ready to hear a disappointed response, was taken aback by the question. "Well, I think the face may have been a little blurry, but other than that, no."

"Hmm. Well, you have nothing to be ashamed of. We haven't gone over that jutsu, and the fact that you made a clone in the first place is remarkable. It usually takes people weeks to create a clone that looks any way human and then even longer to make the clones a replica of themselves."

Harry rubbed his eyes, cursing his five-year-old emotions. Kakashi patted his head fondly.

"If it means anything, I'm very proud of how far you've come. If you want, we can still move onto more difficult training. We'll make those other kids take you seriously." Harry buried his face under Kakashi's arm.

"Thanks," he muttered. Harry pondered briefly if this is what it would have been like growing up with his parents. It was odd having a father figure to talk to about his childish problems with school.

"So Kakashi, you're staying for dinner correct?" Luna asked, and Harry jumped, almost forgetting the blonde witch was in the room.

"Maa, I guess I could do that." Harry grinned up at him.

"Perfect, because it's just about ready." Luna had already set out four plates and was starting to lay the food out on the table.

"Er, Luna there's only three of us," Harry remarked as he helped fill the table.

"Oh yes, just a moment," Luna sang, as she walked out the door. Kakashi and Harry stared at each other in confused silence before the door opened back up. A disheveled Genma was dragged in and seated in the fourth spot. Although he looked a bit perplexed, Genma wasn't complaining.

"Well, erm, hello everyone."

Harry laughed as he sat down next to Genma. This was just what he needed after his struggles at the Academy. He looked around happily at his wonderful, dysfunctional family - with a family like this, he could make it through anything.

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:::::

Harry stirred the potion delicately.

It was after dinner, and Kakashi and Genma had left to meet with some other jounin for a few drinks. More like Gai invited both Genma and Kakashi, and Harry all but pushed them out saying they needed to have fun every once in a while.

It was a perfect time for them to finally discover Luna's animagus form.

"One more minute and it's finished," Harry said, looking over at the clock to make sure. Luna looked uncharacteristically nervous as her eyes locked onto the potion.

"There," Harry said, pulling the rod out of the potion. "It's perfect." The light blue liquid shimmered as a large spoon scooped some of the potion into a cup. He handed the cup over to the blonde, who accepted it carefully.

"Once you drink this, you'll go into a meditative state and find your form. This is the part that differs depending on the drinker. In my experience, I found myself in a dark forest surrounded by massive trees and the wolves found me. I've heard some people have to go searching for their form, which is why it can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours."

The statement of, "some people never find their form," went unsaid, even though they both knew it was a possibility.

Luna stared at her cup before downing it in one gulp. Her breathing slowed as she successfully began her meditation.

Harry cleaned up the potion and supplies as he waited anxiously for Luna to wake up. He kept a close eye on her in case something went wrong.

Fifteen minutes later, Luna groggily opened her eyes.

"How did it go?" Harry asked cautiously as she smiled over at him.

"I ended up at Hogwarts," she said with a dreamy look. Harry felt a pang of jealousy before pushing it back. He knew they both missed their home terribly and should be thankful Luna was able to see it once more.

"The school was empty but still exactly like I remembered. I wandered a while but didn't find anything. There weren't even nargles floating around, which is very odd for Hogwarts." Harry grinned.

"Yes that is very odd indeed."

"Then an owl flew past me, directing me towards the west of the castle. I passed Ravenclaw, but the portrait must have been visiting some friends so I couldn't enter." Harry could see the brief sadness in her eyes before she continued.

"The owl lead me to the West Tower, and I ended up in the Owlery. It was filled with hundreds of owls, all watching me quietly. I felt drawn to one in particular who was huddled up in a corner. This tiny owl with big beautiful eyes stared so intently at me, and I just knew. I reached out and held him, and then… it was over."

"An owl, huh." Harry grinned. "Sounds perfect for you."

"Yes, I'm very happy with an owl. A fwooper would have been fun as well, but causing people to go insane if they heard me sing would not be very pleasant. I do love to sing."

Harry hummed in agreement, and then clapped his hands together.

"And now that you found your form, the real fun begins!"

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Harry's new regimen of training started out the very next day. He warmed up with Kakashi in the morning and trained until it was time for the Academy. On some mornings, Gai would join them and start competitions that would result in Harry dragging his exhausted body to class. He was still picked on, but his resolve was unwavering. He would become the top rookie and prove he could do this, regardless of his age.

At night, he would join Luna and practice magic for about an hour or so during what Kakashi knew as "sibling bonding time." Harry would practice his spells, which were now up to the fourth year curriculum, and Luna would work on her animagus transformation.

After some research, they discovered her animagus form was a collared owlet, or _Glaucidium brodiei_. She also began to study the anatomy of owls inside and out to know exactly what her form should look and feel like. Her progress was slow moving, and the only proof of her hard work was the shape of her eyes and a few small feathers covering her face.

Harry's favorite part of the day was still eating lunch with Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto. After finding out that Naruto only ate cup ramen for lunch, he started packing a second bento for his very loud friend. After that, Naruto started calling him Otouto. Harry decided he didn't mind at all.

Sasuke joined his afternoon training sessions almost every day. Together, he and Harry were both improving rapidly. Sasuke's tai-jutsu was still superior to Harry's, if only because of his longer reach. Their speed and agility were already well past any of their peers and even beyond some of the younger genins. With projectiles, Harry excelled with moving targets while Sasuke had scary accuracy with stationary ones.

With all of the extra training, running Kakashi's 'fit test' was now a breeze for them both. To make things more difficult, Kakashi now began to run through the trail as well firing kunai, shuriken, and other random weapons for them to dodge while completing the course. Harry felt that Kakashi took a little too much joy in his role during this particular training.

On top of the other lessons, with the approval of Sasuke's father, Kakashi began teaching them both the three Academy jutsus: Henge, Bunshin, and Kawarimi.

Harry now was prepared for anything the Academy could throw at him.

Sasuke's brother sometimes would come to pick him up after their training. Itachi was always very quiet and polite and Harry was surprised to find out that he knew Kakashi very well. He seemed concerned in his brother's welfare and would discuss Kakashi's lesson plans with him whenever he arrived. It was adorable how much Itachi cared for his brother, even if it was subtle.

Sasuke would always light up when his brother appeared and spout about everything he learned that day.

Itachi was an enigma, and Harry wasn't sure what to think of him. Unbeknownst to Harry, Itachi felt the same way about him.

On one day in particular, Itachi came to pick up his brother and seemed a little distracted.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke yelled happily, running toward his brother. "Kakashi says Harry and I are both ready to be genin already!" He gestured Harry to come over as if to prove it was true.

"Is that so little Otouto," Itachi replied, making eye contact with Kakashi from afar and nodded. "Well then you should one day be able to surpass even me." Sasuke was unable to hide his smugness from the comment.

"Now give this to Kakashi so we can head home. Kaa-san made these in appreciation for this extra training."

Harry watched as Sasuke trotted over to where Kakashi was picking up shuriken used in their training to hand over the gift and thank him. Harry was startled when Itachi quickly leaned over to him and whispered, "Be wary of the hawk hidden in the roots. He is watching you."

Harry spun around to ask what that meant, only to find that Itachi had moved over to his brother and ushered them swiftly away.

Kakashi waved a hand in front of Harry, who had been staring off after the departure of the two brothers.

"Mikoto's famous daifuku," Kakashi said, gesturing to the box. "This is definitely a treat. Not many get to taste her wonderful desserts."

He patted Harry on the head.

"Good work today. Help me pick up the rest of the weapons, and we can head back home."

As they headed back to the apartment, Harry pondered over Itachi's warning. He had no idea what that meant, only that he needed to be careful.

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End Chapter 12

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	13. Spies and Specialties

The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 13: Spies and Specialties

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"So, how are we going to play off this 'bloodline'?'" Harry asked, once again practicing magic in the safety of Luna's apartment. Luna looked at him curiously. "I mean, we can't just say our bloodline is magic. Magic doesn't exist here."

"And bloodlines are very specific," Harry continued. "For example, the Uchiha have the sharingan, the Nara have their shadows, and the Akimichi have their multi-sized techniques. So for us to have a believable bloodline, we need to be selective. Show something believable and keep the rest for life threatening situations."

Luna hummed in agreement.

"So what do you suggest then, Harry?"

Harry sighed. A simple question but the answer weighed heavily on him. 

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

He'd been contemplating their supposed bloodline often in the past few weeks, trying to find a way to use magic to enhance his fighting abilities in the future without seeming too outlandish. Apparition and shield spells like protego were a few he had considered.

_Though, apparition might be more a trump card I'd like to keep hidden until it's needed._

Shield spells on the other hand, were a heavy contender. He could use them for a multitude of things. By using spells like protego, he could not only block attacks but also deflect attacks back towards the opponent. He could also use Contego, a more fortified defensive spell that dissolves any attack, to shield himself or any of his teammates. While it is more powerful than Protego, Contego is much more magically draining and does not allow any other spells to be cast while it is maintained.

If he chose shielding as his bloodline limit, he could also delve into warding and runes to create more permanent protections. While he was not too familiar with runes, the enigmatic blonde whom he now called his sister studied runes at Hogwarts and might be able to assist.

Shields, while extremely helpful for support and defense, would limit Harry's attack repertoire to only ninja techniques. While this didn't sound like an issue, elemental jutsu usually was limited to one or two elements per shinobi instead of the limitless possibilities magic created.

Harry could publicly broaden his "abilities" once he got older and be able to fight closer to the levels of Kakashi, Genma, and Gai. The rest of his magical abilities would be best saved for when he, his future team, or his family were in mortal peril.

There was no need for more scrutiny right now for him or Luna.

_So the more important question now is, what kind of ninja do I want to be? Once I figure that out, then I'll be able to find out what magic would be most helpful._

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Harry's classes were slowly becoming more tolerable. After only a few months, he'd been able to prove himself in his classroom work but hadn't had any spars to test his ability against the other students in tai-jutsu. He'd even made a tentative friend with a boy from the Aberame clan named Bitoru. He spoke little but was highly intelligent and joined Harry in his dislike of the Taichi boy. Taichi was still tormenting Harry, but it had lessened since Harry now had a friend to back him up.

The actual classes were becoming for interesting as well. The amount of detail during Harry's new lessons about the history of the elemental countries and the five major ninja villages were impressive. Even the lessons he received before the Academy were nowhere near as descriptive as the ones he was now attending. He soaked up the information like a sponge and slowly started gaining some respect back from his sensei.

The lesson he found most interesting ended up describing the different ninja specialties and professions. So far they had talked about Torture and Interrogation and Stealth and Infiltration.

T&I was not something Harry wanted to do. Ibiki and Anko were cool, and he wouldn't mind working with them, but he didn't think he could ever torture anyone. The vague memories he could remember of the past war would make that line of work very traumatizing.

_Though, with legilimency, I would probably be very useful for extracting information. I don't know if they have anything like legilimency here; the Yamanaka mind technique sounds like it has more constraints. The ability to interrogate and then obliviate someone afterwards...._

It wasn't a comforting thought.

Stealth and Infiltration was one Harry would likely consider. With his animagus form and magic at his disposal, sneaking into places would be very easy for him.

_And I had a lot of practice sneaking around with Ron and Hermione through the years._

He did miss his invisibility cloak, though there were still spells able to mimic the effects of the cloak. He hadn't gotten around to practicing the Disillusionment Charm, but that'd be a major benefit in this line of work. Also, if he were able to get the ingredients for Polyjuice Potion... the possibilities were endless.

_All thanks to Hermione for my knowledge of that one. Maybe Luna could figure out a way to brew it…_

"We have gone over T&I and Stealth and Infiltration, so today we will cover something a little different," Aito Sensei began. The class had just finished up their routine morning exercises, and their sensei deemed the inside classroom lessons a break. Harry sat in his usual seat next to Bitoru in the front.

"We have a visitor coming in to speak with you all about medic-nin."

Taichi laughed and muttered loudly, " But that's for weaklings who can't make it in the field."

"Now that is a very wrong misconception." The speaker was a man who'd just entered the room, giving Taichi a reproachful stare.

Harry recognized the man as the healer who helped him when he was in the hospital. Masaki-san waved cheerily at Harry before starting his lesson.

"Medical nin-jutsu is an underrated ninja art. It demands perfect chakra control and an extensive knowledge of the human anatomy. If it weren't for the dedication made by our medic-nin here in Konoha, there would be many Leaf shinobi who would not be around today." Aito Sensei nodded in agreement.

"What also many of you may not know is that medic-nin are not only found in hospitals. Our Lady Tsunade, a world-renowned medical ninja and also one of the Sannin, is a great example of a devastating fighter in the field." There were a few gasps, mainly from the girls who all looked to the powerful female Sannin as an idol.

Harry spaced out for the rest of the speech. Medic-nin? Now that was something Harry could see himself doing. Helping people and assisting in missions instead of solely killing others was an appealing alternative. He could still fight but would be more support for the fighters rather than the frontal assault. 

He grinned broadly as he thought more about going into medicine. It was not something he'd ever contemplated in his old life, but here it could be a great option. There were also tons of healing spells he could use to benefit this career choice. He'd have to talk to Kakashi about it later on.

"Thank you all for listening. Now, there will only be a few of you who will have the requirements to become a medic-nin. If you are interested, you need to be recommended by your jonin sensei before you can be tested by our medic-nin team."

"Thank you, Masaki-san," Aito sensei said. "If any of you are interested in a medic-nin's line of work, come speak with me, and I will let you know if this is an option for you."

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At lunch, Harry sat with Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto as usual, all four eating delicious bentos. Chouji even brought an assortment of cookies his mom made to share with everyone which were heavenly.

As they ate, he told his friends all about medic-nin and how he was contemplating this as his choice of specialty.

"I'm going to talk to Kakashi about it later, but I think it would be a really good fit for me."

Shikamaru tilted his head thoughtfully, chewing on a cookie. "I heard for medical nin-jutsu you need near-perfect chakra control, which is why girls tend to be more proficient than boys." At the confused look of the group, Shikamaru elaborated.

"Boys generally to have more chakra than girls, so it's harder for us to have the chakra control needed for the jutsus."

"I'm sure if that's what you want to do, Otouto, you'll be great at it!" Naruto exclaimed. Harry thanked Naruto by handing him another cookie.

As they were leaving, Chouji pulled at Harry's sleeve, holding him back from the group.

Chouji looked at Harry blankly.

"Chouji… are you okay?" Harry asked with concern.

"Don't fight destiny," Chouji said with a bland tone and then paused and shook his head as if confused. Before Harry could try to respond, Chouji had caught sight of the retreating back of Shikamaru and took off to catch up with him.

The next day when Harry asked Chouji what he meant, the boy was adamant that he would never say such a thing.

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 _Destiny… What could he have possibly meant?_ Harry mused as he sat in his classroom, opening one of his shinobi books but unable to focus on the print. He didn't have a destiny here, only a second chance. He could do whatever he wanted, right? A sense of unease drifted over him as he contemplated this line of thought.

"Class, next week we will begin our tai-jutsu training in spars," Aito Sensei announced. "Remember that sparring is worth half of your practical grade for your graduation exam. Make sure you are ready." Half of the class cheered while the others looked around nervously.

"You mean, even the runt has to spar?" Taichi asked mockingly, trying to collect a few laughs.

 _Just keep underestimating me_ , Harry thought as he shared a knowing look with Bitoru. His bug friend was the only one who knew the details of his extensive training with Kakashi. Even his sensei glanced over at him with what might have been concern. This would be his chance to shock them all. He couldn't help it; he grinned.

::::

As he left the Academy, Harry lingered outside waiting for Sasuke to come out. Their class was running late, so Harry sat down leaning against a tree to wait.

He was debating whether to pull out his book to read or not when he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He glanced over but didn't see anything, so merely dismissed it as wind. That was until he heard hissing.

" _I found him at last. I've waited so long."_

"Who's there?" Harry said, peering into the bushes once again.

" _Master said this one was the speaker, but he does not speak to me. Have I found the wrong human?"_

It dawned on Harry. This must be a snake then.

" _Sorry, you were looking for me?"_ Harry said hesitantly. He heard a sharp hiss. " _Why don't you come out so I can talk to you?_ "

The snake poked his head out of the bush before slithering out to greet Harry. His dark blue scales gleamed against the sun's rays. He was about three feet in length with bright red scales covering the tip of his nose and the end of his tail.

" _Greetings, speaker. I am honored to meet you_." The snake bowed his head. " _I never thought I'd be able to encounter a human snake; I thought it was only in stories someone like you existed._ "

" _Erm well, it's nice to meet you too. Why were you looking for me?"_

" _The snake summoner told me to watch you and report any interesting information about you_." His tongue flitted in and out excitedly.

Harry stared at the snake in shock. Why would this snake summoner want to know about him? He hadn't shown any of his magical abilities, nor had he declared his new bloodline's abilities. Well… _Except for my animagus form,_ he thought. And he spoke to both Hebi and Anko his first day in Konoha, so his parceltongue apparently had gotten out as well.

_I didn't realize speaking to snakes here would be as unique as it was back in the Wizarding World._

" _But now that I've found a true speaker_ ," the snake continued, " _his commands are invalid. Being a speaker means your word is greater than any human's_."

" _So no one is going to spy on me then?"_

" _No proper snake will go against you, I am sure of it,"_ the blue snake replied, puffing out his chest proudly. _"There are some who do not follow the brotherhood of the snakes, but they are not welcomed in our circles, nor are they allowed to be summoned_." He then slithered and curled up next to Harry's spot by the tree.

" _Well if you aren't reporting on me, what are you going to do?"_ Harry asked him curiously. He still needed to find out more about this snake summoner and hoped the snake would at least give him information to relay to Kakashi.

" _Would you permit me to stay with you? I want to protect my brother with no scales. I may not look it, but my bite is very venomous."_

" _I'd like that, but first we will have to make sure it's okay with Kakashi_."

" _Who is this Kakashi?"_ the snake asked.

" _He is my guardian here; he takes care of me."_ The snake nodded his head.

 _So, what should I call you_?" Harry asked curiously. The blue serpent was silent for a moment.

" _I am not important enough to have been named_."

" _Well how about I name you then_?" Harry said, and the snake looked sharply up at him. The two held each other's gaze until the snake slowly nodded.

" _I would like that very much_ ," he hissed softly. Harry thought for a moment, studying the snake's vibrant blue scales.

" _Ao. I think that name suits you_."

" _Ao_ ," the snake repeated. " _Yes, that is acceptable_."

Before Harry could continue this odd conversation, a loud group of kids came hurtling out of the Academy.

"I'm free!" yelled a blur of orange from the group, and Naruto gave Harry a cheeky wave before sprinting away. Shikamaru and Chouji came out afterward, Shikamaru complaining about them being late for family training, before the two headed off to their respective homes.

Sasuke then appeared and sauntered up to Harry with an annoyed expression.

"Naruto kept bugging our sensei with stupid pranks so we ended up having to stay late taking a test as punishment." Harry cringed. Naruto was still starved for attention. Harry definitely needed to invite him over sometime soon, especially since Luna was interested in meeting his spirited friend.

"Hari… is that a snake?" Sasuke tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice quivered just enough to give away his apprehension.

"Yes, it is. And he'll be coming with us to meet Kakashi." Harry stood up and allowed Ao to wind up his arm, causing Sasuke to twitch.

"... Is he poisonous?"

"Venomous, but yes he said he was."

"Ah." 

A few seconds later. "Wait, he did what?"

:::::

After two hours of rigorous training, Harry plopped on the ground with his arms wide open while Sasuke fell to a knee breathing deeply. The snake Harry had brought with him to the training field lazed about in a tree branch, seemingly napping.

"Good job today, kids. You two are really improving." Harry and Sasuke beamed under the praise, but neither could catch their breath to reply. Kakashi threw bottles of water to both of them before drinking his own. Sasuke snatched his bottle out of the air while Harry just allowed his to hit him in the side; he'd pick it up once he found his strength again. Kakashi looked up at the looming sunset and scanned the field.

"You're brother's a little late today, Sasuke." Kakashi said the comment casually but noticed Sasuke tense up before he nodded in response. Harry noticed his friend's tension as well.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked through deep breaths.

Sasuke hesitated before responding.

"It's clan business," he replied slowly. "My cousin died a few days ago so… my family has been pretty stressed about it. My brother especially."

"I'm so sorry," Harry said, struggling to sit up so he could face Sasuke. "I had no idea."

Kakashi hovered a few feet away, pulling out his beloved orange novel, but Harry could tell he was listening.

"It will all calm down soon," Sasuke added, trying to sound confident. "There have just been some… misunderstandings. Shisui was really fun, and everybody liked him. He's been missed."

"Well, just know I'm here if you need anything," Harry said, shakily standing up and brushing off his pants.

"Thanks, Hari."

With the ending of the boys' training obvious, the blue serpent came down from its napping spot on the branches and joined Harry on the ground. Sasuke eyed the snake uneasily.

" _Are you ready for us to have a talk with your Kakashi?"_ Ao hissed, and Sasuke determinedly did not react. Harry nodded and allowed the snake to wrap around his arm once more.

"We can take you to the Uchiha compound on our way home," Kakashi said lazily as he looked up from his book.

"Erm, well I think having you guys in the compound wouldn't be good. Everyone is on edge right now…." Sasuke trailed off. "And anyways, I'm old enough to take myself home, so I don't need an escort. I'm almost a genin! You said yourself that I was ready to be one."

"Being ready and actually being a genin are very different things," Kakashi stated. "But I guess if you are insistent, I'll allow it." Kakashi knew the real reason Sasuke didn't want them to walk him home; he could see the fear in the boy's eyes of the venomous creature wrapped around his charge's arm.

"Just no detours. Head straight home or your father will have my head," Kakashi continued flippantly.

Sasuke bowed to Kakashi and waved at Harry, determined to keep eye contact and not stray down to the other boy's arm.

Kakashi and Harry both watched Sasuke until he was out of sight. Kakashi sighed.

"Now, are you going to explain this snake to me?"

"Kakashi, meet Ao," Harry stated. " _And Ao, meet Kakashi, my guardian."_ Ao bowed her head, and Kakashi bowed his in return.

"Apparently, he was sent to spy on me by someone. But he said that because I am a speaker and a brother of the snakes, he no longer has to follow those orders."

"Who ordered him to spy on you?" Kakashi said sharply, gazing at the snake as if he could respond.

" _It was the snake summoner_." Ao repeated the same thing he had stated earlier. Harry relayed the response, and Kakashi growled, causing both Harry and Ao to jump slightly.

"I'm sorry. It's just, I have an idea of who that is." When Kakashi didn't elaborate, Harry continued.

"So now Ao wants to stay with us so he can protect me and you and everybody else."

" _And I want to give you the snake summons."_ Harry jerked his head to Ao and then repeated what the snake had just said to Kakashi.

"Hmm. If it actually is possible for you to obtain it, that summoning contract would be very useful one day." Kakashi rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Well, you've given me a lot to think about, Hari. Ao can stay with us for now, but I'll need to talk to the Hokage about this soon."

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Harry, Kakashi, and Genma were all seated at Luna's table for a delicious dinner when a bell sounded three times. Because Harry had been taught what the different bell sounds mean, he knew that this was an emergency for all chunin and above. The two jounin jumped up instantly.

"Hokage summons," Genma declared as they both leapt out the window in a hurry.

Harry peered out into the sky with trepidation. Drops of rain started to fall, so he moved to close the window. Luna stayed in her seat, gently petting Ao who was curled up in her lap. It seemed the witch was quite taken with the blue serpent.

"Oh dear," Luna said sadly. "Even the skies are crying. Something terrible must have happened."

Harry prayed to whatever gods were up there that Luna was wrong.

The two stayed up later than usual waiting on the jounin to return. Ao had curled up by the windowsill and Harry wasn't sure if he was asleep or keeping watch. Harry was on edge and couldn't sleep. He watched Luna knitting what she deemed her amity scarf and tried not to think about Kakashi and Genma in danger.

It was near midnight when they both returned. Genma patted Harry sorrowfully on the head and went to talk to Luna in hushed tones. Kakashi approached Harry on the couch with a troubled expression.

"Hari, something... has happened. I felt it was best I told you before you start hearing bits and pieces of the story tomorrow." Harry's heart dropped, feeling a sense of dread fill his entire body.

"It's about your friend Sasuke and the Uchiha clan."

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End chapter 13

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm sorry! :( 
> 
> I have the next chapter written up so just needs a few edits and I'll post soon. Let me know what you all think!


	14. Decisions

The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 14: Decisions

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Harry sat frozen in a worn hospital chair, staring at Sasuke's unresponsive form. The room was filled with brightly colored flowers and Get Well cards lining the windows and tables. It would have been a very cheery room in Harry's opinion, if not for the centerpiece. He could see small beads of sweat concentrated at Sasuke's forehead. Even in a coma, it seemed the young boy was suffering from something terrible.

Harry patted Sasuke's hand awkwardly.

 _How did this happen?_ he thought, not quite able to fully accept the facts. It had only been a day since the Uchiha clan had been murdered and the village was in mourning.

_How could all of this have occurred without anyone knowing?_

He could barely hear Kakashi discussing something with the medic nin outside the room about Sasuke's attack.

"Yes, he was the only one hit with the jutsu."

"How long will it take to heal him?"

"We just don't have the knowledge… uncertain of when he will wake up… if only Tsunade were here…."

"…and we are sure it was Itachi?"

"The evidence suggests... and with him fleeing… Sasuke was lucky."

Harry held in a gasp, but his breath hitched enough for Kakashi to lead the doctor elsewhere.

Itachi. He was the reason his friend was lying here in the hospital in a comatose state. He caused the Uchiha clan to go from hundreds of members to two in only a few hours. His little brother looked up to him with such admiration and love, and this is how he leaves him? He was thankful Kakashi indirectly filled him in on the situation, as unfathomable as it sounded.

He stared back at his friend with his heart plummeting. Sasuke now was without family. And unlike Harry, Sasuke didn't have any muggle relatives to take him in. The Dursleys were an unpleasant lot, but they did give him a home and enough food to get by.

 _Also, I was too young to really remember my parents_ , he thought sadly. The emptiness he felt going without parents is nothing compared to what his friend will feel when he wakes up. No parents, relatives, no one, but the murderous brother who caused it to happen.

"Sasuke, I will be here for you no matter what," Harry stated vehemently. "You won't be alone, I promise." He squeezed his friend's hand carefully, hoping that Sasuke would somehow know Harry was here with him.

Harry looked around the room, his eyes falling on a simple bouquet that stood out among the bright cheerful colors. An assortment of daisies, snapdragons, and lilies wound together clearly stood out because the flowers and even their stems were all pure white. Harry studied the bouquet that Luna had given to his friend and remembered what she had said as she brought it in.

"Your friend is grieving, and my magic responded," she stated simply. "The colors drained out as I picked them. How strangely fitting that these flowers signify innocence when his has been taken from him." She looked out the window, eyes glazing over.

"I think I'd rather mourn his lost innocence. Unlike you Harry, not everyone gets a second chance of being a child. At least the nargles are here to help him with his nightmares."

Harry had been worried about the oddities of the bouquet, but the nurses just thought someone had painted them white so no one questioned it.

The white collection of flowers somehow felt more real than the vivid colors of the rest. Like displaying a fake smile, the multitude of colors represented a pretend notion that everything would be fine. He almost wished they were all white instead of the ironically cheerful appearance the other flowers created.

Luna was right; this tragedy will leave Sasuke no longer a child.

Harry sat with his friend for a while longer before Kakashi popped back in. Kakashi's eye glanced briefly around the room before zoning his attention to his charge.

"Hari, the doctor says Sasuke's visitation time is about to end. And I think Luna has food ready for us." Harry looked up at the clock, astonished that five hours had already passed by. On cue, Harry's stomach began to rumble.

As he left, Harry didn't notice that the bouquets closest to his chair had all began to change. The petals were all tipped with white, the absence of color slowly creeping into the center of each flower.

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Harry ate his dinner silently, his mind turning over the past couple of days in his head. Genma's absence was also apparent; his mission had started before any of them woke up the day after the Uchiha tragedy. Kakashi was leaving for a mission as well, but he said he had time for dinner before heading out. The gloomy atmosphere affected even Luna's cheerful self, who had been tapping her glass of water with a frown for the past ten minutes. Kakashi looked more uncomfortable at the table than usual, glancing every so often at the siblings over the pages of his book. Ao had wrapped himself around Harry's shoulders, every now and then hissing comforting words into his ear.

Harry finally pushed his food away before grabbing Kakashi's attention.

"Kakashi, is Sasuke going to be alright?" Kakashi pondered over the question for a moment, studying his charge's expression.

"Physically, yes. His mind will eventually heal from the jutsu and once he wakes up, he'll be back to normal. Emotionally, however…." Kakashi paused.

"Well, we won't really know until he wakes up. People react to tragedy in different ways."

"The road he takes after this will be important," Luna piped in suddenly. "He could be a Neville, or a Harry, or a You-Know-Who. You'll just have to help him find a path that doesn't end in pain and Horcruxes." Harry nodded, Luna's words actually making a lot of sense. Ao raised his head toward Harry.

" _What did your Luna just say? She sounded very serious_." Harry repeated what Luna said to the snake.

 _Brother, what is a "horcrux_?" Ao asked him.

" _Erm, I guess you could say she means going evil and searching for power_ ," Harry replied slowly. Ao nodded and went silent, resting his head back onto Harry's shoulder.

"Also, I'd been meaning to talk to you about something Itachi said to me the other day, but it doesn't make any sense." Harry then told Kakashi about Itachi's warning.

"A hawk, you say," Kakashi murmured, rubbing his chin. "That will be just another thing I'll discuss with the Hokage." He looked at Harry.

"You seem to draw a lot of attention, don't you?"

Harry crossed his arms with a huff.

"So I've been told."

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With Kakashi gone for his mission, Harry headed to the hospital on his own to visit Sasuke the next day.

"Today we have our first spars," Harry said. "I'm ready to show everybody in my class all the hard work you and I have put into training." Harry sighed.

"Just wake up soon okay? I need my sparring partner back." The healer walked in at that moment.

"Oh, hello Hari-kun, back again so early?" Harry nodded. "Sasuke is lucky to have such a good friend."

"When will he wake up?" Harry asked softly. The healer hesitated.

"Well, to be honest, we aren't sure. If Tsunade-sama were here, she would know what to do… but we don't have the knowledge to fix him just yet. We are doing all we can, but in the end, he'll have to just wake up on his own."

Harry glanced back at his friend.

_Would magic be able to help him?_

On the way to the Academy, he continued to ponder that question. Could magic help Sasuke? He knew quite a lot about the mind arts from his lessons with Professor Snape. In theory, he could go inside Sasuke's mind and find out what was causing his unconsciousness.

On the other hand, having someone find out Harry was capable of this would be very dangerous for him.

 _I'll wait until the end of the week. If he isn't better by then…_ His thoughts trailed off as he entered his classroom.

"Well, I'm surprised. I thought the runt of all people would be pretending to be sick today!" The other boys who hung around the large eleven-year-old snickered at the comment. Harry ignored Taichi, sitting down comfortably in his usual seat and pulling out a book. Bitoru hadn't arrived yet, so he didn't have anyone to distract him from Sasuke's predicament.

"I wonder who he'll get paired with?" the boy continued loudly with mock concern. "I hope it isn't one of us, we might accidentally put him in the hospital!" Harry gritted his teeth but stayed silent. He couldn't sink to this child's level. He was too old to pick fights with children, even if this one was a horrible bully.

 _I hope I am paired with one of those boys,_ he thought. _That would shut them up._ He still wasn't overly excited about the prospect of sparring someone with the goal of really hurting them. He knew one day it would be a necessity, but for now, he only wanted to prove a point. He wanted everyone to see that he could hold his own and that he was just as qualified to be in the top class as everyone else.

Bitoru then entered the classroom and took the seat next to Harry. The boys quieted down after that. They all thought Bitoru was weird too, but being a member of one of the major clans prevented them from bullying him as well.

"Are you ready for today?" Bitoru asked in greeting.

"You bet."

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"Now, whoever steps out of the circle, gives up, or is knocked unconscious loses," Aito Sensei said as they all entered the small training ground behind the school. "If I believe the spar is over, I will end the spar and declare a winner. You will be graded on technique, not necessarily whether you win or lose. For now," he added pointedly.

The first pair to fight was two girls who giggled as they entered the circle. They threw a few half-hearted punches at each other before one landed a kick around her opponent's stomach. The girl crouched to the ground crying out and that was the end of the first spar. Their sensei rubbed his forehead in annoyance before asking the winner to escort the crying girl to their classroom to sit down.

Bitoru was next, fighting a civilian born boy. It was a short, one-sided fight with Bitoru knocking the boy out cold in one hit.

"The outcome was obvious," Bitoru stated softly, adjusting his glasses. "Why? Because I have been training with my clan longer than he has been training." Harry nodded at him as he moved back to his spot next to Harry; the spar was too embarrassing to warrant congratulations. A few other spars took place, none very exciting. Taichi showed his disappointment in not being paired with Harry, but still made a show of beating down another boy in the class. Harry grudgingly admitted to himself that the boy had a bit of talent, but the pompous attitude and overconfidence would be his downfall.

"Next spar will be… Matsuo Junichi and Potteru Hari." Sensei stated, glancing in Harry's direction with unease. Harry walked into the circle with quiet confidence, ignoring the girls' concerned comments.

"Aito sensei, you can't be serious!"

"He's just a kid, he'll get really hurt!"

"Hari is a part of the class and will participate in all of the class's activities. If he cannot do so, then he does not belong in this class." Harry sighed. Even their sensei still didn't think he belonged.

Taichi whispered in the boy's ear before slapping him on the back. The boy then joined Harry next to their sensei.

Sparring his classmate was very different than sparring with Kakashi, Gai, or Sasuke. He knew those three didn't intend to really hurt him. This boy however had a fiery glint to his eyes and a grin that spoke volumes.

"Give up now before I hurt you," the boy hissed at him. Harry only smiled up at him in response.

"Begin," their sensei said abruptly, and Harry charged.

The spar ended rather quickly in Harry's opinion. They exchanged a few punches, but Harry's experience of fighting much faster opponents made Junichi's movements seem sluggish. Junichi tried to spit in Harry's face to disrupt his vision, but Harry dodged it easily. He landed a solid punch to the boy's gut, knocking the breath out of him and causing him to double over. Harry then bent down and swept his leg out to knock the taller boy to the ground. He then grasped the boy's arm and pinned him sharply to the ground.

Stunned silence followed. Junichi thrashed under Harry's grip; however, Kakashi had taught him a hold that even upper chunnin struggle with, so the boy had no chance of breaking free.

"Does anyone else believe Hari can't keep up with our class?" Bitoru spoke softly to disrupt the silence.

"Yes, well…" Aito Sensei said in a daze. "Potteru Hari is the winner."

Harry released the other boy and returned to his spot next to Bitoru, determined not to break into the triumphant grin that threatened to show through. He finally showed them he is deserving to be in this class.

"He, he must have cheated!" Taichi exclaimed, glaring at Harry. "There is no way the runt could have beaten one of us."

"You saw it with your own eyes," Harry finally spoke up and met the boy's glare with his own. "I beat him fair and square."

"Yeah right! You definitely cheated! I always knew there was something shifty about you."

Harry's hands clenched tightly into fists and he used every ounce of willpower not to react.

"Permission to fight Taichi in our next sparring session," Harry announced loudly, not breaking eye contact with his large classmate. Their sensei hesitated.

"Permission… granted." Some of the girls still looked panicked for him, even though he had just beaten one of their classmates soundly. Harry sighed. Even beating his opponent did not sway their opinions that he is just a small child.

"We will have the next round of spars in two weeks. Everyone, learn from any mistakes made today and apply them to your training between now and then. We will discuss some of these mistakes once all the spars are completed for today." Taichi popped his knuckles in a threatening manner while looking ecstatic.

"Sounds great, Sensei," Taichi responded happily.

"Class, let us continue with our practice matches. The next spar will be…."

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The week went by with no change in Sasuke's state. Without Kakashi and Genma there, Harry trained with Gai after the Academy and Luna at night. With only Harry and Luna home, the dinner table seemed very empty. They even invited Gai over for dinner one of the nights.

"YOSH! Thank you for allowing me to share this youthful dinner with you!" he announced passionately. Ao slithered from Luna's lap into Harry's room, muttering about busted eardrums. Safe to say they would not be inviting Gai to dinner again without having Kakashi there to rein him in.

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The week also included the memorial for the fallen Uchiha Clan members. The Clan symbol was emblazoned on a large tapestry, swaying behind the podium where the Hokage stood. There was a long table in front of the Hokage, decorated with pictures of the fallen Uchiha. Both teary-eyed civilians and ninja placed flowers and ornate fans alongside the frames.

Harry stood near the back of the memorial with Luna, wearing his new black dress suit Kakashi had purchased for him. Luna also wore a black sundress, though handmade radish earrings still hung from her earlobes and multiple necklaces filled with mismatched beads.

Harry saw Shikamaru and Chouji with their fathers and a blonde girl he recognized as one of their classmates, all dressed in formal black kimonos. They nodded solemnly to him as they continued to the front, which was seemingly designated for all the Clans. The young blonde girl waved and smiled at Luna as she passed, confusing Harry terribly until he remembered Luna worked at the flower shop.

_So she must be a Yamanaka._

"How dare that demon show up here," a civilian behind Harry whispered angrily.

Harry glanced around, wondering what the man could be talking about and saw another familiar face.

Naruto was standing off to the side awkwardly, still wearing his obnoxiously orange jumpsuit. He waved hesitantly as he detected Harry in the crowd. Luna, who seemed to have noticed where Harry's attention had shifted, glanced at the blonde boy and immediately walked up to him. She took his hand and dragged him over to where she and Harry were standing.

"It's starting," Luna whispered to him, still holding onto his hand. Naruto nodded to her, in shock that a complete stranger would invite him to stand next to them. Harry smiled at him encouragingly. The crowd started to quiet down and turned their attention up to the Hokage.

The Hokage cleared his throat and began to speak. His grief was palpable as he recited the many great things the Uchiha Clan accomplished and how terrible for this tragedy to happen to such an upstanding and hard working Clan.

Harry half listened to the speech, his mind instead flooding with memories of the past war. He hated funerals. He usually just felt an overwhelming guilt, not being able to end the war fast enough, not being able to save everyone. It had torn him apart.

This memorial was a different kind of hurt. His body ached horribly for his friend in the hospital. Sasuke was already in so much pain, and when he wakes up, life will never be the same. He also felt an intense anger for Itachi. How someone could do this to his own family Harry will never understand. He was determined to make sure that Sasuke did not end up down a terrible path because of this tragedy.

He wiped a surprising tear away from his face before realizing he had been crying. Luna stroked his hair soothingly with her free hand, the other still clasped in Naruto's. Harry glanced at Naruto, who he noticed was shaking. He was staring with disbelief at the hand still clutched in Luna's grasp. His face was full of amazement and confusion and made Harry wonder.

_Is this the first time someone held his hand like this?_

Harry didn't notice the speech had ended and the crowd began to disperse. Luna grabbed his hand quickly and tugged him to the side.

"Let's get some dango," she said softly, leading the two boys away from the Memorial and the people still eying Naruto hatefully.

Once Naruto got over the shock of an adult actually being nice to him, his sunny personality came bursting through. As they sat at the dango stand, he animatedly told Luna all about the art of pranking and how Harry was the best Otouto he could have ever asked for. He even exclaimed, through a mouthful of dango, that he was going to be Hokage one day.

Harry listened to the cheerful blonde while chewing on his own dango slowly. While he was elated that Naruto was opening up to Luna so quickly, he still was unable to shake off the painful feelings he had from the Memorial.

After a while, Naruto quieted down and set a now empty dango stick on the counter.

"That was Sasuke's family, wasn't it." Luna and Harry both nodded solemnly.

"So… he's like me now." Naruto looked down sadly at his hands. "He's all alone."

"You're wrong," Luna replied kindly. Naruto looked at her in confusion and watched as she took one of the strangely beaded necklaces from around her neck and placed it around his own.

"You have your great Otouto and Nee-san now. We will keep all the evil wrackspurts and mudsprites away and be here to cheer you on your quest to become Hokage." She smiled brightly at him, and Harry couldn't help but smile as well.

Naruto sniffed and rubbed his eyes with his forearm. A muffled 'thank you' was heard amongst smothered sobs and Luna rubbed his back soothingly.

Luna had then invited Naruto to dinner and by the end of the day, Naruto was the happiest Harry had ever seen him. He was practically skipping as he cheerfully waved goodbye to head home at the end of the day.

"Thank you," Harry said simply as the two siblings cleared the table. Luna giggled and wrapped Harry up in a hug.

"He is so much like you, there was no way I could just leave him alone," she stated. "Being the Harry Potter of this world must be so difficult, so he needs me just as much as you do."

Harry wasn't sure what she meant by Naruto being 'the Harry Potter of this world', but it didn't matter. His heart warmed as he thought of how ecstatic Naruto was when Luna invited him to come over tomorrow night for dinner as well.

He went to bed, hoping Kakashi and Genma returned home quickly so he could introduce them to Naruto as well. He vowed to include Naruto in their daily lives more, so the boy wouldn't be alone. 

_And once Sasuke wakes up…,_ Harry's thought trailed off. _If he wakes up…_

An uneasily feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't just leave him in the hospital without doing something to help. If the healers here didn't have the means to help his friend, he'd have to take matters into his own hands.

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Harry visited Sasuke the next morning with renewed determination. He decided to find out what was wrong, even at the cost of someone discovering this particular gift. He held Sasuke's hand carefully.

"Don't worry Sasuke, I'm going to find out what's wrong so I can fix you," he whispered fiercely. Harry glanced at the door, making sure it was securely shut and then cast a notice-me-not charm at the entrance.

 _Here goes nothing_ , he thought, as he concentrated on his magical core.

"Legilimens!"

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End Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading all!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry dives into the mind of eight year of Sasuke Uchiha. Details of Genma and Kakashi's mission come to light.

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The Next Great Adventure

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure" – Albus Dumbledore (HPSS, Chapter 17)

Chapter 15: Decisions Part 2

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_::The week before::_

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The mission was set for failure from the beginning.

Five teams were clustered in front of the Hokage's desk at dawn awaiting orders. Genma stood between his two teammates, Ueda Akihiko and Inuzuka Maiko. Akihiko was a budding kenjutsu expert who recently passed his jonin exam a few weeks prior. He was practically shaking in his excitement to begin a mission as an official jonin of Konoha.

Maiko was quite the opposite and looked incredibly bored. Her partner Kyo, a massive bloodhound with floppy ears and a love for dango, sat dutifully at her feet, nudging her to pay attention. On the left of Genma's team, Kakashi stood with his teammates. Oshiro Hitomi, a brass medic nin with a flair for genjutsu, was a part of Kakashi's scouting team, alongside a Hyuga named Ko. Kakashi had his beloved orange novel secured in front of his face so he could ignore the rest of the jonin in the room.

"I'm glad he doesn't read that smut in front of Hari and Luna," Genma muttered darkly, gaining a wicked grin from Maiko.

"Ohhh, you mean the beautiful foreign girl you can't stop thinking…." Genma slapped a hand on her mouth, sputtering incredulously. Akihiko chuckled and earned an exasperated look from Genma. Before he could respond that he definitely, absolutely does not think about Luna, the Hokage finally cleared his throat. The gathered jonin quieted down to hear their orders.

"A tragedy occurred in Konoha last night. I have called all of you here for the task of retrieving a member of our own who committed the heinous crime. All of your teams are here to bring back Uchiha Itachi, who murdered all but one of the prestigious Uchiha Clan." The Hokage took a deep breath and closed his eyes. There was a heavy pause before he continued.

"While he is only thirteen, Uchiha Itachi is not to be underestimated whatsoever. He was an ANBU captain and also had the ability to kill his entire clan, filled with many talented shinobi. If your team finds a possible trail, you are required to send for the closest scouting team before proceeding. I do not want any teams approaching the Uchiha alone. Nara Shikaku will be notifying you of the direction each team will take for their mission."

Genma accepted the mission without complaint, though had reservations on the success of such an endeavor. While it may not be too difficult to find a trail, the possibility of catching up with an incredibly talented ninja such as Itachi who has a twelve hour head start will be close to impossible in his opinion.

His team was ordered to head out west towards the Land of Rivers. They left shortly after the debriefing, Inuzuka and Kyo heading the team forward. Kakashi's team was the second wave to leave that night and head in the direction of two different teams and hopefully have a lead to pursue.

It wasn't until early the next morning that Kyo barked excitedly.

"You find something boy?" Maiko asked, heading to the tree her partner was occupying. Maiko sniffed heavily into the bark of the tree.

"Great job Kyo, I never would have noticed that." She gestured for Genma and Akihiko.

"Kyo found traces of the Uchiha. It's about half a day old and very faint but it's there. Kyo is the best tracker there is," she added proudly, beaming down at her nin-dog.

Genma took out the scroll Nara had given them and activated it. A Konoha hawk burst out of the sealed pages and nipped Genma's hand aggressively. Inuzuka wrote out their specific coordinates as Genma tried to calm down the ruffled bird.

"Kakashi's team is closest," Maiko stated, tying the note to the foot of the hawk. The bird then took off and flew swiftly northeast.

"It will be at least an hour before the team can make it here," Inuzuka said after the hawk disappeared from view. "While I'd love to continue on the trail, we should set up camp for now and refuel. If we are going to be encountering Uchiha Itachi, we need to be completely prepared with backup."

Half an hour after they set up their temporary camp, Kyo whipped around and began growling. Maiko reacted a second later and mimicked her partner.

"Incoming, multiple shinobi, between eight and twelve of them," she growled, her canines elongating. Genma pulled out a handful of senbon, still clenching his favorite one between his teeth. Akihiko took out his katana and slashed the air.

Eleven shinobi burst through the forest and a battle commenced, with the three Konoha jonin at an extreme disadvantage.

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By the time Kakashi's team arrived, Akihiko was a mangled corpse and Maiko was collapsed against a tree with her hound standing guard, bleeding profusely over her still form. Genma, who had lasted the longest against the enemy nin, was breathing heavily from multiple kunai lodged in his torso and struggling to stand with gashes in his left leg and a crushed foot. Kakashi, Hitomi, and Ko all rushed in as the last three of the enemy nin launched another attack on the lone jonin.

Kakashi's team took down the worn down enemy nin easily. Genma crumpled on the ground in shock as soon as the last shinobi was killed.

When Hitomi tried to approach him, Genma waved her away. "Check… them… first," he panted forcefully.

"Check Inuzuka," Kakashi ordered before heading to Ueda Akihiko. He didn't need to check the kinjutsu expert to know that he had succumbed to his injuries. Kakashi silently took out a scroll and sealed the fallen shinobi.

Kyo started growling weakly as Hitomi and Ko approached the Inuzuka.

"It's okay, Kyo… they came… to help," Genma stated shakily.

"We are here to help," the Hyuga stated softly, distracting the hound so his teammate could check the Inuzuka. The dog continued to whine in pain but continued to stand in defense of his master.

"She's still alive!" Hitomi exclaimed, her hands automatically turning green and beginning to heal the unconscious kunoichi.

Maiko's hound quieted down after breathing a sigh of relief and finally fell to the ground.

"Poor thing," Ko stated sadly, picking up the deceased nin dog and sealing him in a scroll as well. "He protected his master until the very end."

"Continue to heal her," Kakashi ordered before summoning his Pakkun.

"Can you still pick up Itachi's trail?"

The pug scouted the area, his nose flat on the ground.

"Genma, where did the trail lead from here?" Kakashi asked, turning his attention to the senbon user.

"North west through the Land of Rivers, but the trail was already faint." Genma cringed as another wave of pain shot through his leg.

"He's right boss, the trail sort of fades away from here," Pakkun announced after checking the surrounding grounds.

With no trail to follow and two injured shinobi, the group had no choice but to state the mission as a failure.

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Genma sighed, rubbing his injured leg as he sat down next to the fire. His teammate was still unconscious, but her breathing had improved significantly.

"She'll be fine," Hitomi said, noticing where Genma's gaze had followed. She was stirring a pot of stew over the fire but still had a diligent eye on her two patients.

Genma clenched his fists. This was his fault. He was a seasoned jonin and should have protected them. He should have been the one to die, not Akihiko. Picturing the kinjutsu expert fighting so hard against the multiple enemies sent another wave of pain through him that had nothing to do with his leg.

He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder softly. He looked up into his masked friend's face.

"You cannot blame yourself for this. This attack was unavoidable, and without you and Ueda, Inuzuka wouldn't have made it. His sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Ko came back from his perimeter check and sat gracefully across from Genma. He accepted a bowl of stew with a nod of thanks and quietly began to eat. Hitomi then offered another to Genma. His stomach lurched but Hitomi forced him to take it.

"You won't be able to heal without any sustenance," she stated simply.

They had been camping for two days, allowing Genma and Maiko to recover before heading back to Konoha. Genma's wounds were substantial but not life threatening. While he would be fine in another day or so, Maiko was the one the group was most worried about. Having a medic nin there to immediately begin healing her increased her probability of living exponentially, but they still needed to be careful. Hitomi forced them to stay for the entire week to ensure Maiko was healthy enough for travel.

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Kakashi hated waiting. He wanted to either go after Itachi or head home to his charge. But with injured comrades and no trail to follow, all he could do was sit and speculate.

Why did their mission start a day after the massacre instead of as soon as they knew Itachi had fled? The timing was strange and set them up for near failure as it was. Almost as though they were sent just for show rather than to actually catch Itachi. Then there were the shinobi with no visible village affiliation. Was it just coincidence they attacked or were they sent to block any Konoha nin from following the fugitive Uchiha? Kakashi sealed up the enemies' bodies as well, hoping there would be clues to where they came from and why they attacked his fellow shinobi.

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::present day::

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Minds are a curious thing.

Minds are the one place the truth cannot be hidden - that is, if the witch or wizard is powerful enough to examine it. From Harry's personal experience, the mind takes shape to create a reflection of a person's personality and experiences and with training, can construct a powerful defense to protect the precious memories inside.

Harry remembered Hermione's organized mind resembling a giant library, with a book representing every memory she possessed and carefully labeled in chronological order. With her determination to master Occlemency, the library became filled with traps, Devil's Snare, and multiple illusions that even Harry had trouble disabling. Her non-magic background was evident in the esthetic of her mindscape as well. The library's architecture resembled an elegant fifteenth century cathedral with muggle fairy tales painted beautifully on the walls and ceiling. Her favorite book quotes were carefully carved into the wooden shelves throughout the entire library. "Even the smallest person can shape the future", her favorite quote by Tolkien, was whittled into the shelf holding her earliest childhood memories.

Ron's mind, on the other hand, revealed a chaotic Burrow with redheaded knights defending the entrance. The knights portrayed each member of the Weasley family and began taking on their individual personalities as his mindscape developed. Two in particular seemed to enjoy pranking trespassers instead of attacking them headfirst. Ron also created their attic ghoul into a monstrous entity that viciously tore into any intruders.

While Ron did not have the aptitude to create intricate illusions or traps in his mind like Hermione or Harry, Ron's memories were so haphazardly placed that his disorganization hid his memories as well as any illusion. The Burrow was filled with paintings of his family and friends from Hogwarts that would yell obscenities at intruders - Hermione's in particular would harshly lecture anyone around on their missing potions homework. Ron's bedroom included a large painting that took over an entire wall in his room that played an exact replica of the Chudley Cannon's win over the Harpies in 1942. The game brought tears to Ron's eyes every time he watched it.

Harry's mind was a balance between the minds of his two best friends. A castle almost an exact replica to Hogwarts, with a massive Great Hall and countless numbers of classrooms and moving staircases, contained his memories. While his was not organized like Hermione's, he did have his own system to finding the memories he needed. He created the Gryffindor Tower to contain his happy memories of Hogwarts, hidden behind a quidditch painting with the password 'I Solemnly Swear that I'm Up to No Good". His childhood memories with the Dursley's were carelessly thrown in a broom closet on the sixth floor hidden in cleaning supplies. His memories of Voldemort, Death Eaters, and everything involving the war were all locked in Slytherin's Chamber. These memories he placed inside of a secret room he created behind a Salazar Slytherin statue and sealed with the password ' _the light will triumph'_ spoken in parceltongue. He had other memories hidden in a study very similar to Dumbedore's, at Hagrid's hut, and even some stowed away in the trophy room.

After he started studying magic again in his new life, he created a new area in his version of Hogwarts for his memories of Konoha. They were carefully placed in a magical trunk, not unlike Mad-Eye Moody's, inside a third floor classroom.

Harry was very proud of his mindscape, which had become almost impenetrable by the end of the war. And while he was nowhere near the level of Dumbledore or Voldemort in Legilimency, he became very adept at tearing through peoples' minds for information when needed.

All of the knowledge Harry gained about the mind came from the potions master. "The mind is not a book to be opened at will and examined at leisure," were words stressed often. Violating someone's mind was a monstrous intrusion on a person's privacy and only performed in desperate times. With the war, however, these intrusions were necessary to either find information from his foes or to help his fellow Order members learn how to defend their minds.

Harry had ventured into many minds of wizards and witches throughout the years; however, as he entered into the mind of Sasuke, he realized he'd never seen a mind like this one before.

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All Harry could see at first was pitch black. As he entered forward, the scene before him lightened up but carried a red tint on every surface. He'd never ventured into a mind that was stained a certain color.

"So this must be what the Uchiha Clan village looks like," he murmured, studying the environment carefully. It was deathly quiet, only the sound of faint whispers could be heard. He began searching the houses, only finding them to be empty. He finally came to the largest house and as he approached, the whispers became louder and more pronounced.

Harry entered the house slowly, the door creaked as he pushed it open. The house was bare like the others except for one detail. A small form was huddled in the middle of the room. Harry could see Sasuke sitting alone, shaking and clutching his knees to his chest with his face hidden.

"Sasuke?" Harry called out cautiously. No response.

"Sasuke, it's me Harry," he said, walking slowly to his friend. He made his way into the room and stood directly in front of the shaking boy. Still, Sasuke did not respond.

Harry left the boy for a moment, searching the rest of the house for the source of the whispers. In the last room, a small bedroom with minimal decor, he found the memories. They were floating around like leaves in a storm, cries escaping from many of them.

 _Something must have agitated them_ , Harry thought, using his magic to calm them down. They finally quieted and slowed to a lazy hover except for one. One memory glowed an angry red, the same tint as the village in Sasuke's mind, and continued to zoom around the room. Faint screams still erupted from the disturbed memory. It stood out in comparison to the other white glinting memories.

"Looks tampered with," Harry murmured to himself. Before initiating any repairs to the tampered memory, he exited the room to check back on Sasuke to see if calming the other memories made any difference.

The boy was still huddled in the middle of the room, but his shaking had calmed a little. His head had risen so Harry could see the boy's tear-streaked face.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke still didn't respond. He looked terrified.

Harry hesitantly reached out to comfort the boy. As soon as his hand touched Sasuke's shoulder, Harry's vision spun.

_Men and women getting decapitated in their homes…. Children's throats getting slit… Terrified screams echoing all around…_

" _To test the limit of my abilities…."_

_The Uchiha Clan head and his wife kneeling in front of a blood-soaked Itachi, pleading for their lives._

" _You must kill your closest friend…."_

Harry let go, his hand shaking uncontrollably and felt a strong urge to retch. His friend was stuck in this memory, the massacre, and it was being replayed over and over again.

 _And it's been tampered with to show him everything that happened in the massacre_ , Harry thought with dismay. _No eight year old should ever see something so horrible._

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

 _How should I fix this? Obliviate him?_ Harry walked back into the room with the memories, debating his options.

He stared angrily at the volatile memory, still ricocheting off the walls.

_Maybe if I just alter the memory. I can erase the memories of his family member's deaths and all of the blood._

"Why did you do this, Itachi? You loved your brother," Harry growled. He wanted to erase the whole memory, but if his brother thinks to come after him in the future, Sasuke will need to remember what happened.

Harry made the decision. He would take out all the memories of the murders. He would erase the screams and the bodies from his friend's memory. He'd even lessen the visuals of the memory, so Sasuke didn't see the blood on his brother's clothes. But he would keep the words. It may be something he would talk to Sasuke about in the future, to figure out exactly what Itachi meant. It seemed important, and Harry couldn't take that away as much as he wanted to.

He could take away the memories, but he couldn't erase the actual massacre. His friend will hurt no matter what Harry did for him here.

 _But I can help his nightmares,_ Harry thought, and with determination, he began to alter the memory. The glowing red memory screamed, and Harry could hear Sasuke screaming with it. Ignoring his friend's cries, he continued his work until he erased all that he could.

Finally, the memory, and Sasuke, quieted down. The memory floated just as the others did, and only had a small tinge of red left in its glowing sphere. Harry wiped the sweat from his brow and returned to his friend.

"Harry?" Sasuke was standing up, though his body still shook slightly, and fell into a defensive stance as soon as Harry entered the room.

"What are you doing? How are you here? What's going on?"

Harry's mind went blank. How was he supposed to explain this?

"You've been in a coma for a week now. My bloodline limit allowed me to come and get you." Harry scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "A lot has happened, and I'll explain everything once you wake up, okay? But I don't want anyone to know my bloodline lets me do this. I'll tell you all about it, so please don't reveal my ability to anyone."

Sasuke nodded in confusion. Harry gestured him to walk outside.

"So… if I am asleep, how do I wake up?"

"Well since everything has calmed down here, you will probably wake up on your own." Harry looked around, thankful that the red tint was gone from the village. "But I can pinch you if that will help!" Sasuke cracked a small smile, and Harry gave a sigh of relief. At least Sasuke hadn't lost his ability to smile.

Sasuke stared around the village.

"They're gone, aren't they?" he stated sadly. Harry nodded solemnly.

"But I promise you, Sasuke. You will never be alone." He squeezed the boy's shoulder.

"I'm going to kill him," Sasuke stated firmly, clenching his hands into fists.

"And I'll help you." Before Sasuke could protest, Harry waved it off.

"I already told you, I'm not going to let you be alone. If you want revenge, then I will support you with that." He sighed. "We will talk more about this later. First I want you to wake up, okay?" Harry steadied himself to cancel the spell.

"See you on the other side!"

Harry then snapped awake. He looked around the room, blinking his eyes rapidly to adapt his vision to the bright room. He noted that no one had visited the room while he was in Sasuke's mind. He removed the Notice Me Not spell from the door and stretched out his stiff back before leaning toward Sasuke. He shook him softly.

"Sasuke, time to wake up." There was some rustling of sheets and a groan.

"Come on, Sasuke. I need my sparring partner back." He shook him once more.

Then, Sasuke opened his eyes.

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End Chapter

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a beta so if there are any mistakes, let me know. Also, if anyone is interested in editing this story, please message me! 
> 
> Next chapter Harry will be telling people a little about his bloodline and Kakashi and Genma will be back. Also, Harry and Taichi's fight is coming up soon.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!
> 
> \- If anyone was wondering what type of snake Ao is, he is a Mangshan pit viper. Look them up, they are beautiful.


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